After a while, Sylph looked at the boy leisurely walking next to her, " Aren't you worried about what they saw?" Dante looked back at her, the corners of his mouth curled up. "Don't worry about them, what do they gain from reporting me. The guild would even thank me for cleaning this forest of its filth.
The two continued walking until they arrived at a site devoid of trees, there were many destroyed tents. It looked like when those manifestations, where they all brought tents to sleep outside.
As the two were observing the environment, they could see the burning tents and dead corpses of goblins. It was not a sight to behold, yet the two seemed unfazed, as if this was their daily occurrences. The boy looked at the corpses and then walked next to them, touching their foreheads with his hand for a few seconds, and then kept going to the next one.
In his eyes, red runes appeared every time he did that:
-
{Congratulations, you have acquired 1 goblin data shard:
7 Sub-Goblin data shards
1 Human data shard (Abuella Davenport)
Please, make contact with targets to absorb data shards}
-
After a while, they looked around, only to discover that everything had already been looted. Disappointed, they start returning to the dorm when all of a sudden, three goblins jumped from the bushes. They had wooden clubs and spears in their hands.
As they thought they had found easy preys, the one in the middle started running toward them like a dog with rabies. After two steps, it felt a warm sensation on its back. After looking back, it saw its two headless comrades, their blood having spluttered on it.
Next to them sternly stood the white haired girl, watching the young boy. It then started running toward him, thinking he was an easier prey, which was right.
The boy didn't panic and when the goblin swung his club, he trued to parry, only to miserably fail due to the strength difference. He was fell to the ground while still blocking the push of the club.
The goblin, thinking it had won, found a still standing headless body. It found it familiar, standing next to it was again the young white haired girl. The goblin's head fell on the ground.
Dante who was under its assault, ended up being covered in even more blood. He then sighted before trying to stand, only to find that he had hurt his leg and fall back on the ground.
A hand appeared in front of him, he looked up with a sour expression and grabbed it. After standing up, albeit limply, walked toward the three corpses and put his hand on all of them.
After a while, red runes appeared in his surprised eyes:
-
{Congratulations to host, you have reached 10 Sub-Goblin data shards.}
{You have unlocked new feature: Everlasting Evolution.}
Skill details: You can obtain creatures' data shards, which can be now used to randomly obtain a monster's skills and other. The higher the quantity of shards, the better the replication.
Limit: At least 10 data shards need to be obtained to be able to replicate a skill or for it to be usable. (≠ humans)
Other: You can obtain another skill from said creature when you reach 100 data shards.
Status:
[Name: Dante (self-proclaimed)]
Race: -
Talent: N/A
Attributes:
Strength: G-
Agility: G-
Mana Pool: F
Mana quality: ?
Dexterity: G
Intelligence: B-
Magic: F
Stamina: G-
System appraisal: {You're so weak that you could die at the hands of a young goblin. You're a subhuman at this point. Please be careful!}
System Skills: [???], [System], [Appraisal], [Everlasting Evolution].
Skills: -
Per Bond: 1/1, [???]
Current status: wounded, exhausted, hungry, ???}
Exp: 7
-
Dante looked at the red runes and started frowning, he thought he had obtained the skill to instantly obtain other's skills, only to be disappointed.
As he tried to walk back to the dorm, Sylph helped him by grabbing his arm around her neck. At that moment he took advantage of the physical contact to use [Appraisal] only to be disappointed with questions marks.
On their way back, peoples were looking at them with worried faces. Especially the boy, who was covered in blood as if he had taken a blood shower.
They headed to the guild, there, they provided small advantages like taking a shower to adventurers who clean up the infestations of monsters. After they both took a bath separately, they headed toward the train. On their way back, Dante felt strange, as if everything that happened today was a dream.
When they reached the academy gate, the guards greeted them. The two started heading toward Dante's apartment, when they entered, Dante headed toward the kitchen to make something for his growling stomach. Sylph just looked at him, thinking about something. Without noticing it, the table was filled with food.
Dante sat in front of her and started eating like a kid having been starved for days. The white haired girl looked at the plate he pushed in front of her, as if asking her to eat too, which she did after her stomach started growling too
The two enjoyed the food in a deadly silence which wasn't awkward, a silence which was broken when Dante asked, "Can you tell me things l should know before you go? I don't remember anything.."
Sylph was silent for a few seconds, "This academy is called Verdantheard and is the most prestigious of the continent. We're in the capital of the Valiantcrest Kingdom. It's the most powerful country on the continent because everyone sends their offsprings here to cultivate knowledge and talents. So the power is concentrated here. This academy has been built with the purpose of opposing the demon Kingdom. We're at a stalemate, so no one wants to attack the other as it may result in other kingdoms taking advantage and attack them."
'Typical cliché world, at least they're not dumb enough to wag war with each others as it there are no advantages to the winner'. Thought Dante.
The girl took a bag from the spacial bag and gave it to him, it had some silver coins but most were bronze coins, "This is an apology for today's incident. I didn't expect you to be this weak." "I understand you and hold no grudge." Dante didn't look angry or anything, he even looked delightful.
Sylph excused herself and then walked toward his dorm room. Before exiting, she took a glance at Dante and then frowned.
Dante didn't notice that as he closed the door and ran toward the toilets before vomiting his stomach's inside. 'F*cking hell, what's wrong with me. Why did I do that in the forest..'. He then went to the bathroom to clean himself, there he found a mirror. What he saw made his blood run cold, his reflection was smiling widely, his deep red stared at him with malice. Dante then hurried washed his face with cold water and saw himself turn back to normal, as if all he saw was his imagination.
His complexion looked pale, his didn't look like the most beautiful creature in the world, but he couldn't not be called handsome either, his eyes were of a dark gray, his deep black hairs were longer than the norm and were messy and disheveled. He looked a little malnourished or more like a lack of physical activity which made him look thin.
After observing himself for a while, trying to detect any anomalies in his reflection, he decided to explore the academy. It wasn't time for sleep yet, so he had to explore this environment where he will stay for a long time.