…
In a gray world with black floating pillars and giant flying abominations, Dante opened his eyes.
He was lying on the ground, head face toward the dusty sky. When he was about to get up, his hands felt a weird substance.
When he looked at his hand, he shuddered as he remembered what had transpired last time. Next to him was a corpse all too familiar to him. It was the place where he had died…
The trans daze didn't last long as he stood up and continued his previous objective, walk opposite to the flow of what the flying monsters were trying to escape from.
However, just as he was about to take a step, he couldn't help but feel intense shudders in his back. As if a predator was exited at his prey showing its back.
This feeling disappeared when he looked back, after trying to notice anything weird, nothing could be found. And like that, his walk resumed.
After some times, maybe hours, maybe days, he noticed that the floating monstrosities were getting bigger and bigger.
If before they were the size of somewhat big fishes that would reach his knees, now they were as big as small sharks. Their deformities being higher and higher.
The pillars now looked new, before they were all cracked up and looked really dusty. Now they had fewer cracks and floated a more stably.
More time passed, and everything looked way bigger now. The creatures of the sky had grown up to the size of a white shark. Their bodies looking more and more combat oriented…
Before he could make more observations, he heard the small bell… But this time, instead of another dimensional being appearing, the creatures in the sky started crying in pain.
Their bodies started growing hideous tentacles that wrapped themselves around their host. Killing them…
As he watched this, he felt something scratch his cheek. When he tried to scratch it off, he felt his arm being lighter than usual. As he was about to look at it, he fell to the ground.
With his head on the ground, he looked at his arm, it had disappeared, when looking toward his legs, they had disappeared…
Something then touched his left thigh, his hand… It had grown tentacles of flesh with red eyes, where his palm was supposed to be, there was a mouth full of sharp teeth.
His two legs had the same mutations, they were, however, bigger and had more tentacles on them. Before he could make sens out of this, his lower half started to detach itself from him.
Then he lost his left eye's vision, after that, he felt something crawl on his skin. When he tried to look at it, it was his detached eye…
"Fucking hell, just kill me already!" He shouted, but just when he thought he was finally going to die.
He thought of something funny. His limbs started to heal rapidly, but before he could fully heal, he started suffocating.
When he looked toward his chest, he saw it open in four cuts. Tentacles with eyes grew out of his cavity and started looking at him.
And so the process of him watching his body slowly stole by something little by little continued for minutes. Every sane man would become crazy…
As he slowly lost consciousness, with his remaining eye, he saw one of the flying creatures fall toward him. It then opened its mouth in an attempt to devour what was going on the ground.
…
He rapidly opened his eyes as he violently stood up from his bed and ran toward the bath. Looking at himself, he saw one of his eye being purple, slowly becoming his original dark gray color…
"Another squatter has taken a liking to my body…" He sneered.
"And I need to attend class today as well, this is so tiring."
However, the moment he thought about today's class, a flood of memories flooded his mind. After being stunned for a few moments.
He ran toward the room where there was a cocoon, as he opened the door, a happy smile appeared on his face…
…
Before an entrance, a boy with long tied black hairs walked in. His pupils were glimmering a slight red light, his smile was always present on his face. Which made him look oddly amicable.
However, everyone looked at his head, more specifically what was on it.
"So you really came, huh, I thought you would cower away. And, do you really think you can beat me with that small bird, haha!" Rowan mockingly laughed out loud.
On Dante's head was a black owl like bird with a white bone like mask. It looked extremely cute, its eyes were deep black, almost void like holes.
It looked around curiously, when someone would wave at it, it would tilt its head to the side, then wave back with its wing.
He was quite late compared to other, but early compared to the teacher. As he looked around for Sylph, he noticed an old woman with tanned skin standing out. She was looking right at him with a smile.
He also smiled back, just as he was about to ask who it was, the tanned teacher appeared next to him. He didn't look surprised, as if predicting that this would happen.
"What a fascinating bird, its face is protected by a skull? Where did you find something like this?" She curiously asked him, her anger completely having disappeared.
"Hello there young kind lady, I am called Dante. Would you mind showing some manners by introducing yourself first?" Dante backed away when she tried to touch the bird, a gentlemanly smile on his face.
The teacher looked surprised and then laughed, "Hahaha! Of course, I am sorry, I got a little too distracted by your pet. My name is Kaida, and I'm the beast taming teacher."
"Oh! So you must be my teacher then, I'm sorry for being absent yesterday. I was having some affairs to attend because of Skully." Dante said in an apologetic voice.
"Hoho, no worries then. It's not every day that we can see someone as polite and gentlemanly as you at your age" She then chuckled.
"Would you mind me observing your pet? I can pay you a hefty price to bu-"
"I'm sorry. He's not for sale unfortunately, we've developed a special bond, he's like family to me" Dante slightly apologized.
The teacher then told him to not worry.
After a few moments, Rave, their swordsmanship teacher, entered the dome shaped class.
She looked at the old women, "Kaida, what are you doing here?"
"Haah. My dear Rave, can't I come and visit my dear colleagues in peace and without any ulterior intentions?" Kaida smiled.
"I am here to witness these young kids fight, it has been a while since I observed the younger generation fight."
"What fight? I was not informed." The red eyed teacher responded.
The small kid from last time took the initiative to talk again about Dante's and Rowan's duel and their bets. The teacher looked at Dante in an inquiring way, as if asking if he was forced into this.
She then looked relieved when she saw him smile, her knowledge from their first class lesson told her that Rowan would absolutely massacre Dante.
..
On the concrete floor of the huge dome shaped class stood Dante, and on the other side of the arena appeared Rowan.
"In this duel, if Rowan wins, Dante has to not have any interactions with a student named Sylph. And If Dante were to win, he would be granted any wish from Rowan family as long as it is in their power.
In this match, everything is allowed. Are the terms of the duel accepted by both students?" Rave asked in a monotonous voice.
"Could you make it so only if one is unconscious or incapacitated, only then will the match end?" Dante asked.
"Rowan, do you mind?" She looked at Rowan.
"No" He answered by a smile, as if he was thinking on how to make him suffer.
"Ready?"
"" Yes"" Both of them answered at the same time.
"Beat that asshole!" "Massacre him!" "Yeah! Wipe that bastard's smug from his face!"
Hundreds of students were looking at them while encouraging Rowan to beat Dante.
Their teacher then lifted her hand in the hair and then announced,
"Alright then, match can start in 3, 2, 1, Go!"
Just as the match started, the red haired boy lunches himself forward really fast, a two-handed sword in his hands.
Dante couldn't react and lost both his arms as he backed off.
Rowan, stopped sliding a few meters after slashing Dante's hands. He was still in his upward slashing stance, he was waiting to hear the class's cheering him.
But was met with silence and gasps. When he looked back, he wore a horrified look.
…