"System, receive reward"
He was in his room, in a more comfortable… way, to say the least, when he decided to collect his reward.
After he sold Juggernoid to that man, no one came for the rest of the day, and the boy came on Saturday morning, there were more customers, but they only looked around and complained about the prices without even hearing his explanations.
With that last sale at the end of the day Dante could get his two Bakugan the System had promised.
His bakugan! His own bakugan!
He saw as two spheres appeared out of thin air, they shined with the rainbow colors when he caught them.
He was wondering if he would get Drago, but then remembered that it was two, so probably a pair of the same kind? Like Preyas and Elfin! Or Skyress and Ingran!
His thoughts were interrupted when the glow started to dime and he got to see the colors of his new bakugan.
He saw white first, and the first thing he thought was Tigress and Nemus, but then he saw two colors that don't belong to Haos bakugan.
Then it clicked.
"No way!" He hissed.
The bakugan opened and two very familiar forms revealed themselves.
"So you are our Brawler?"
"Is a pleasure to meet you"
In his hand were Silent Naga and Shining White Wavern.
'Holy shit!' Was all he could think at the moment.
"Would you excuse me for a moment?" He asked.
"Of course" Was the receptacle of the Infinity Core response.
Dante put both Bakugan in his bedside table and went out of the room, sat on the door and buried his face in his hands and let out a groan.
Damn you System!
***
Regina was happy to see Lily and Ferri in her new class, she was nervous that she would have even less time to hang out with both of her friends.
"Do you know Gina?" She heard Lily ask.
"We have the same magic engineering class" Was Ferri's response "But we didn't get to hang out much because of Grace, and you?"
"She's my cousin by father's side" Lily said "But we don't talk much around the Academy, also because of Grace"
Yes, that despicable disgrace of a noble that didn't give her the chance to hang out with her favorite persons in the Academy.
But now they were in the same class!
She was so excited that she could barely contain her form!
Regina was a demon, similar to an Imp, she had good fire magic, but she was born for illusion, transformation and dark magic, her magic is even stronger than most demons her age!
But it made it hard to control.
That's why she was in this class, to learn how to control her magic.
"Seems like you guys are having fun"
The sudden new voice startled Regina so badly that she nearly let go of her transformation to reveal her tail.
But, instead, she did let go of Lily and retreated a few dozen steps using her magic to let her slide using her shadow.
With a quick look, she saw Kaen standing at the door, a satisfied smile on his face.
"Good to see that you're all energetic for your first class with me" He said before clapping his hands twice to wake up the sleeping boy "Today I will introduce to most of you a new technic miss Rockfield and Lord Ferri showed me yesterday"
He then looked at the two of them with a knowing smile.
"From now on you two may let your Bakugan out when we are in classes"
Regina was confused by that and was about to ask what he meant for this when a low voice came from Lily.
"Are you serious!?"
***
Things were chaotic for a moment.
The other students in class got startled with Topaz and took some time to properly explain everything and introduce Topaz and Solder.
Rockfield was bright red during the whole process.
Well, he could understand why, the imp girl was still unfreezing the ogre boy that made a comment about her being an old man disguised.
"It's impressive how well made is this ice" The imp said "Normally it shouldn't take this long to melt magic ice using imp fire"
"That's just prove how effective this new technique is"
Kaen was on the podium in front of the class, a smirk could be seen on his face as he took six bakugan, each of a diferente type, out of his robes.
"Today we are going to introduce this technique into your mana circuits" He explained "My bakugan and I will be helping get a hold of it, but later I'll discuss with them witch bakugan would be better to give each of you, them I'll take you all to the Academy's Dungeon to test the results of the change in technique and ao you guys can save enough to buy a bakugan of your own, Rockfield and Ferri can keep their training with Topaz and Solder, Alizeé and Ahwa will be with to give you a second opinion, do you all understand?
"Yes sir!"
Kaen watched as all students came to the podium to take the Bakugan that corresponded to their element.
Alana, the Imp, took Foyer, the Pyrus Robotallion.
"Please take care of me"
"You too, miss"
Riku, the ogre, took Terre, the Subterra Robotallion.
"I still don't understand how such a small thing can help me with my magic"
"Calm me small one more time and I make sure you fail you next test"
Next was Kiran, his half-blood beast folk nephew and the fifth prince of the Bronze Empire, who took Lucien, the Haos Robotallion.
They stared at each other for a few moments until an unspoken deal was formed and both bowed to each other before Kiran extended his hand and Lucien jumped on it.
Then it was Regina Argentum.
He was a little surprised with this girl and with her control over her demonic powers.
The more powerful a demon is, the harder it is to control the power, but here she was Regina Argentum, the crown princess of the Silver Empire and daughter of the first crown prince of said Empire, keeping perfect human form like it's nothing and even making use of darkness magic without breaking a sweat.
Tadeo would be so proud if he saw his daughter right now.
She came to take Noir, the Darkus Robotallion, but he immediately turned to Kaen.
"We are going back to New Vestroia to buy her a Reaper- No! A Fear Reaper- No!" He said "She had so much Darkus power we might need both of them! Maybe a Siege or a Juggernoid to help her regulate it, but she needs more than just one Bakugan to help her, damn, just Hydranoid's scale would be enough to help out here, where is the edgelord tyran when you need him…"
Kaen raised a brow, surprised by the outburst.
He knew Regina had a lot of magic power, but not enough to create this reaction.
He kept grumbling as a confused Regina took him away.
Rockfield and Ferri came together to take Ahwa, the Aquos Robotallion, and Alizeé, the Ventus Robotallion.
"Let's work hard!"
"That's the spirit!"
"All be counting on you from now own"
"And I in you"
Kaen then watched with fascination as the students started their practice.
Alana started by asking questions on how to start and how to proceed, Foyer was gladly answering her, seeming content with the situation.
Riku was on his seat, receiving the same simple, confusing and strangely easy to understand run down Kaen received from Terre when he started to use the Subterra circuit last night.
Kiran and Lucien were vibing with flashy lights, that he could tell, his nephew was a shy kid and wasn't one to talk around strangers, and so was Lucien, as he discovered thanks to the other bakugan, but he did take a word or two from Lucien before sleep.
He decided to go easy on everything and everyone, so he only started stabilizing Ventus, Subterra and Darkus, by the recommendation of others, as these three elements were connected to one another.
He could learn about Pyrus, Haos and Aquos later, stabilizing three elements is enough to keep him running for now, and he could already see the improvement!
Next was Argentum, who had already started moving her mana circuit while Noir calmly told her where to direct the mana.
Noir was a surprisingly gentle teacher, he had a patience that didn't match his rough personality and could be a pleasant company.
Rockfield was sitting in a table, eyes closed and legs crossed, she had a sphere of water in one hand and a sphere of ice in the other, Topaz was in her left shoulder, telling her how to operate the ice, and Ahwa was on her Right shoulder, telling her how to manipulate the whater.
Soon the water sphere changed into many seals that swimmed around her fingers and the ice sphere turned into a pair of unicorns galloping in her palm.
It was impressive how fast she could learn something, and Kaen had to give credit to her genius status, if it was at his Academy days, he might have gotten jealous of her.
Last but not least, Ferri, who had made a small tornado in his desk where Alizeé and Solder were spinning, it was not too fast, and was controlled enough to not disturb the class.
After taking a good look at their way to practice for some time, Kaen stepped in.
Classes would be interesting from now on.
***
"So this is your store? How lovely"
"How disgraceful, to be sold as a toy"
"Brother!"
Dante was back at the front door the next day, he was still a bit shaken with his 'reward', but managed to recompose himself.
The literal cause of the description of Vestroia and his sister were on his shoulders right now.
How bad could it be?
"A much as selling bakugan makes me feel strange" He said "It's necessary, Vestroia is gone and is just with the energy of these cores that the System will be able to maintain the Rift that have been used as substitute in the basement, so, unless you know how to restore Vestroia, I'm selling Bakugan"
Right, this place where the store stands actually was going to become a Beast Tide if the system hadn't taken over, and the whole Bronze Empire would be drowned in Demonic Beasts without a chance of survival.
It was with the cores of these creatures that he had been living in the least years, and he still had reserves after all Demonic Beasts were wiped out and the rift became New Vestroia, but they wouldn't last forever.
Well, he is selling them for low grade cores, but he couldn't just sell anything at middle grade cores right now.
But he did have a plan to make something new without the System assistance, so he started to play with some extra parts he had around his workshop while waiting for the next customer.
Naga stayed silent (haha) and Dante felt him leave his shoulder, rolling to his hood as Wavern sighted.
"I'm sorry for him" She said.
"Don't be" Dante said "It must be strange for you guys too, hell, it's strange for me! Who would have thought I, a nobody, would be brought to another world to sell bakugan just because I knew a hell lot about them in my home world?"
She stayed in silence for a moment, but soon asked a question he never even thought someone would ask.
"What kind of world you came from?"
That took him by surprise and he hesitated.
The world he came from? Well…
"Boring, no crazy adventures, very monotonous to say the least" He said "But I don't have much to say other then that, I don't remember much"
"You don't?" She said surprised.
Yes, that's the big truth about him.
"The System deemed my memories to bad to keep" He explained "It does that to some of its hosts, apparently I have trauma, so I'm slowly losing all memories of the life style I lived before, all I have now is some key points of that world and all my knowledge of Bakugan, but I still do remember some things from before, like how a few things work in that world, but most memories are related to Bakugan thought"
That was one of the reasons he didn't have a good relationship with the System.
It took his memories without asking him, it made him wonder all the time why he knew how to do many things that he didn't expect himself to know, and it barely and vaguely gave him any answer to his questions, leaving him in the dark.
And worst, as much as it tried to take his memories, it wasn't able to take his dread of loneliness.
The System literally had to find him a solution because the loneliness was driving him insane, and Dante didn't even know why!
Other reason was because the System was an arrogant bastard.
"It must be hard to not remember your own life" She said.
"It was at the start" He admitted "I couldn't remember my own name and had to come up with something, I couldn't just tell people that I don't have a name, right?"
He sighted and looked at his prototype, it looked like a mini laptop, not that stravagant or impressive, just enough to have a base.
"But, after two years, I got used to the fact that there are things I can do without even knowing" He said "I got used with these guys nagging me all the time and got used to the fact I'm in a whole different world in whole new body made by the System"
He heard some complaints and snarky remarks from the bakugan around him, but he ignored them with a simple smile.
"Aren't you just eighteen?" She said "If what you said is true, you were only sixteen when you came to this world, isn't it too young for such a big role as to save Bakugan?"
Yeah, he thought the same when he was brought here, the System had promised to him that he would go to a world with bakugan when it chose his unfortunate soul, but it didn't explain that he would be the one spreading the bakugan to the world before he agreed with binding it to his soul.
What a scammer.
But…
"I mean" He started as he tried to turn the laptop on "At least I have a place to stay, when I start to properly sell more cards and Bakumeters I'll have a source of money stable enough to buy food by myself and stop depending on the system, and don't have to worry about danger since this store is even safer then the imperial palaces thanks to the System"
The laptop did turn on, but it then exploded in front of him, right when he was about to celebrate.
All bakugan laughed as they saw his pitch black dyed face when the smoke subsided, he only groaned in response, taking the laptop apart to reuse whatever he could save from it and not even bothering to clean himself.
Wavern hummed in agreement, but made another question.
"What are you even trying to make?"
"Right now I can't sell anything with a value higher than ten low grade cores" He said "But that's from the System's products, and I noticed yesterday that my clients don't understand the usage of Portal and Ability Cards even after the bakugan themselves trying to explain them, so I'm trying to make something that will help the customers understand the battle part without actually battling"
"A simulator then?" She asked.
"Pretty much"
He was fighting a gruesome battle with a melted internal part when the door opened with the sound of a bell and a woman pushing a wheelchair with a boy more or less in his age appeared in the store.
"Welcome to New Vestroia!" He said with a professional smile "How can I help you?"
***
Today was so fun and strange.
Kiran doesn't usually do much in classes and just stays with his cards since he already knows everything they teach, so having some new content was really interesting, and Lucien gave him some good hints about magic control.
But he was surprised by the strange change in events.
His cards didn't tell him about any kind of surprise, today was supposed to be a normal day.
What a pleasant and unsettling surprise.
His cards were never wrong, his visions never showed any falsehood.
But he was wrong this time, his cards failed him.
And it unsettled him.
After class was over, he pulled his cards, intending to take a peak and see what more was different.
"Your highness!"
But he was interrupted by a familiar voice, looking down and the stares, he saw Lily approaching him.
Lily, The magician, Knight of Wands (upright and reversed) and Reversed Fool, was an old friend, and his half-brother's fiancee.
He had always looked up to her since he can remember, be it when he was younger or in his visions, she was more of a tiger than himself.
Just like the empress, the woman he sees more as a mother than his own.
She came with Gina, The fool and Reversed Strength, she too was an old friend, they met many times in banquets and parties before, she was a wonderful friend, as insecure as she might be.
It saddened him to see her hide her true appearance.
And last but not least, there was Baron Koda Ferri, The Magician (Upright and Reversed) and Chariot.
He hadn't personally met him before, only in his visions, but Kiran knew the boy's personality, and knew his ambitions, and Kiran supported him.
He nodded to them, curious by their approach.
He didn't like talking much as he sometimes would say things that he wasn't supposed to, like a piece of the future people weren't supposed to know.
But he did talk a lot with Her Majesty the empress, she was a good person, had always been and would always be.
"Would you want to go to the canteen with us?" She asked "We plan in going to the library later and revise what we had today"
A good offer, one that he agreed upon by rising from his seat and following them, cards still in hand.
They left the classroom together, Alana had run off as soon as the class ended and Riku left soon after just as fast.
"Uhm… your highness?"
Kiran turned his gaze to Ferri, who was clearly uncomfortable.
"M-My name is Koda Ferri" He said "It's nice to make you an acquaintance"
Kiran smiled and nodded.
That didn't change.
Ferri might start like this, respectful and timid, but he would one day be one of his most trusted men and the one to kick him in the ass if needed.
But that was for the future to decide, now Ferri was just a kid, an uncomfortable kid that was dealing with an awkward silence.
So he did what he did the best.
(Was it hard to learn the new technique?)
He talked using his hands.
Unless he is completely focused on what he wants to say, no one can understand what he says when he uses sign language, no even his uncle.
So it's a good way to speak without risking people discovering about the true nature of one of his Classes, [Seer].
Ferri seemed a bit surprised, but gave him a small smile.
"It was hard in the first few hours" He admitted "But Solder is a good teacher"
He smiled at the barely audible chuckle he heard, quite envious of Ferri for having a bakugan on his own.
(I wish I had one)
He was honest about it, as much as bakugan confused and worried him for being an object capable of changing his visions, he was still curious.
And he would be lying if he had said that Lucien hadn't helped him.
"Well, you can ask someone to buy oke for you and send them here" Ferri said "Lady Rockfield got Topaz as a present from her father"
"I'm still going there myself!" Said lady retorted "Next weekend for sure!"
"If you say so"
The moment Lily entered the conversation, Feri immediately relaxed, assuming the personality that Kiran had known first.
He would definitely ask his brother if he could buy one for him now that he knew he could just send it here.
Lily and Ferri weren't this close in his visions.
How curious!
Such a good change for her future misfortune!
But it's still strange that things have changed so much.
He decided not to worry about that for now, as the present needed his attention more right now.
They had just arrived at the canteen, at some point Lily locked him in a chokehold and dragged him all the rest of the way, not that he or Gina minded, it had happened to many times for them to care, but it was funny to see Ferri's horrified expression as she did it, he and Gina snickered at his unnecessary worry.
"Lily!"
They had barely stepped in when a familiar annoying and sickening sweet voice came to his ears, making Lily freeze in place and Kiran flinch.
He gave a look at the direction of the voice, and certainly, Grace was there.
His first instinct was to break free and run, the second was to break free and hide behind Lily, but he stopped both sides of him that wanted to do that and stayed where he was as the walking bad omen approached them, ignoring the dropping temperature.
"Lily! Where have you've been? I didn't see you in any classes today, did you ditch the classes or something like that? You also only came so late to the canteen! I've been waiting for you this whole time!"
She then saw him, and he saw the gleam of a predator who saw an opportunity.
"Isn't he his highness the fifth prince?" She said "What are you doing with him? Why are you holding him like that? Isn't it bad to treat the Imperial family this way? And why are you with him? It's the second time you just ditch me and appear with a boy"
Lily let go of him, but he didn't leave her side, opting to just face the ground.
He heard the murmurs of the other students, he felt their eyes and their intentions.
It was intoxicating, it was enerving, it was too much.
He wanted to leave this place full of bad energy and go back to the classroom, where things were fun and calm, or to his room so he could check out the future once again.
He was starting to get overwhelmed when something - or better saying, someone - dropped on his shoulders.
"You're making some really wild assumptions there Miss"
Hi looked by his side and there he was, Ferri, with his arms across him and an equally surprised Lily, who also had Gina (in her bravest moment, he wouldn't say otherwise) attached to her left arm, his chin was resting on air as he stayed in relaxed posture that didn't reach his eyes, nor his smile.
"The way you say it makes it seem as if Lady Rockfield is throwing herself to boys" He said with a familiar tone "And ditching classes? Is that even possible in the Academy? Being late is ok, but ditching? That's new"
That's… unexpected.
Kiran knew that tone, that was the Bat Tone, it was something he saw Ferri use a lot on his visions.
But that was it, in the visions, where Ferri was already grown up, was already successful, not this fithteen year old boy he was seeing.
Has he always been like that? The bat was bat even when he was a child?