At Dante's apartment, the warlock explained to Zac that he was only living there temporarily for his bodyguard job, which was why his home was empty.
Still, Zac didn't find that any less suspicious, as his reasoning didn't make much sense to him.
"You know? I was still awake when you got there…" Zac muttered.
Remembering the events, after he said his farewells to the group, he calmly made his way to his lesson, only to get cut off mid-way by Turner and his lackeys.
They dragged him to the alley, knowing that no cameras were around, and their beating began.
Nonetheless, the last thing he remembered was the voice of Dante talking to the bullies before hearing them wail in pain.
"Dante, who are you?" the redhead asked, his tone the most serious he had ever been.
The warlock stood up from his seat and locked eyes with Zac, who was oozing positive energy from his body, letting Dante understand that his friend had absolutely no ill intentions toward him.
'Zac was my first real friend in this world, and he stood up against those bullies just to keep hanging out with me…' Dante thought.
He knew that Camille asked him to keep his identity a secret, but that was to prevent people with bad intentions from approaching the warlock.
When he saw Zac's aura, he could tell that the man had genuine affection towards him, reminding him of his old friends from his past world.
"Zac, I'll tell you the truth since you are sincerely my friend," Dante replied, maintaining a serious atmosphere.
*Gulp* "Okay, go on…"
"My full name is Dante Shadowvale, and I'm a Specialist Warlock from the world of Terra,"
"..." A brief silence enveloped the apartment.
*Pfft* "HAHAHA, Good one!" Zac exclaimed with tears of laughter while he held his stomach.
"You are a warlock, and I'm a warrior, arrrgh!" the redhead jokingly continued, loudly chuckling to himself before noticing that Dante stood still.
"Dude, you are not laughing…" he said, raising an eyebrow and pondering if Dante was not trying to make a joke.
Thinking of a way to demonstrate his claims, Dante pointed his hand at the coffee table and controlled the umbra in the apartment to make the TV remote float on top of it gently.
With an ecstatic expression, Zac waved his arms around the remote to check for wires and was surprisingly happy to see that it was genuinely floating and it wasn't a trick.
"How are you doing this!?" the redhead exclaimed.
"I'm just controlling the umbra around us. It's not much, so I can only make small objects like this float…" Dante replied, putting the remote back down.
Zac's mind started racing, wondering if he was going crazy. However, his curiosity and his fanboy spirit got the best of him.
"You said 'umbra.' What's that? Is it your powers? Do spells have names? Can you re-spec to another class if you get bored? Do you have levels?" The redhead asked incessantly, comparing Dante's identity to that of an
"Uhh, what?" the warlock asked with a puzzled expression.
"I thought you were going to tell me you were a secret spy or something. I wasn't expecting to discover magic!" Zac continued.
At that moment, Sophia entered the apartment, holding a paper bag with vegetables and other ingredients. However, the two men didn't notice her as Zac kept asking magic-related questions.
"Umm, Dante?" Sophia muttered.
"I know. I told him the truth," the warlock replied, knowing that the blonde was a little worried for him.
"Ah, Miss Sophia. How did you even find a real warlock!?" Zac asked, directing his barrage of questions towards the blonde.
"Umm, w-well… It was Megan who ran into him first," she replied.
Zac had never met Megan in person, but he had heard rumors about her on campus, as she was known as the cold and beautiful roommate of the sweet and caring Sophia.
"I see. I should ask her. As a fantasy enthusiast, I can't let this opportunity escape…" the redhead muttered.
____________________
An hour had passed, and while Sophia was almost done preparing dinner, she kept listening attentively to Zac's questions, as she believed she didn't have the guts to ask Dante for details about his life.
"Are there dragons in Terra?" he asked.
"Yeah,"
"What about vampires?"
"Yup,"
"Mermaids?"
"Mhmm…" Dante nodded.
Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted when Megan arrived to join them for supper.
"Ah, Meg. Right on time—Sit down, I'll get you a plate," the blonde greeted Megan.
'That's Miss Megan!?' Zac thought, wondering how Dante was always surrounded by beautiful women.
"Thanks, Sophie… Who's this?" the brunette indifferently asked while taking a seat, prompting the redhead to stand up hastily.
"My name is Zac Pearce. It's nice to meet you, Miss Megan," he uttered loudly.
"Likewise-..." she said, but was instantly cut short.
"Miss Megan, how did you find Dante? Did you summon him!?" the redhead asked.
"What?" said the brunette, keeping her cold expression and glancing at the warlock.
"Dante, what is he talking about?" she continued.
"I told him the truth—but no, Zac, Miss Megan didn't summon me," Dante said calmly.
"So, how did you get here?" Zac asked, turning his attention towards the warlock.
Sophia and Megan halted their movements and gazed at Dante, as they were curious to know the same thing.
The two girls never tried to dig too much into Dante's past since they felt like the warlock's mood diminished whenever he mentioned something about it.
Camille was the only person who knew Dante's real age, and she had kept that information a secret since it was confided to her alone.
Luckily for the girls, Zac didn't mind pestering his friend with personal questions, so they used that moment to learn more about Dante.
"Well, I didn't come here on purpose…" the warlock replied, his voice having a slightly somber tone.
"There was a natural phenomenon called 'celestial alignment convergence' happening, which worked as a gate between realms," he continued.
"Like a portal?" Zac asked.
"I guess so."
"But, you said it wasn't on purpose. How do you enter a portal by mistake?" asked the redhead with genuine curiosity.
*Sigh* "I had a contract with a demon that stated he would save me from certain death one time—I suppose the only option he had to fulfill his contract was sending my body through the convergence…" Dante explained.
Hearing his answer, Megan remembered the first time she met Dante and how he had appeared with his tattered clothes, full of cuts and bruises—casually mentioning how he hadn't slept for three days.
The group understood the implications of his words. He was meant to die and ended up in a completely different world.
Noticing the slight change in Dante's mood, the redhead sat his questions aside.
'What could Dante have been doing that it was certain he would die…?' the brunette thought, knowing his capabilities.