Dante slept for a long while, the events of the previous day had exhausted him beyond his limits and he took this small respite to recuperate and clear his mind. His objective was clear, escape and find a settlement, the process however wasn't so simple and he would require great effort to achieve this. The northern territories of the empire were vast, exceeding that of any other region within this expansive Martarian Empire. This snow capped forest was at least equivalent to that of the largest within the other regions in terms of size, yet it was still no match for the largest of the northern woodlands. Dante had to traverse this massive woodland alone, weakened and clueless on where he was going. He couldn't expect help from Kai either, he mentioned that he'd check in with him once he had found a settlement, meaning he won't get any help for, at the very least, a few weeks or potentially even months. Not to mention the threat that the monsters inhabiting posed, his experience last night was proof of that and he had only narrowly survived due to the help of his blessing, that just so happened to be the monster's weakness.
He had gotten lucky, he knew that, he needed to prepare for his journey properly. If he were continue as he was, he would not last long and would swiftly become fodder for the great beasts that inhabited this harsh taiga, or he might just succumb to the deadly climate itself. He must adapt to this environment, this was just a step in his journey, he could not afford to fall here. His aspirations were too great, too ambitious for him to be stopped by a mere forest, if he couldn't overcome this, then how would he possibly achieve his revenge.
The question was how he would accomplish this? It's all well just saying he'll prepare, but how would approach that? He didn't have a vast array of materials suited for wilderness survival, all he had was the clothing and valuables of the party guests, the guards were practically unequipped, not a single one of them had a weapon. Dante was disgusted at the negligence, what sort of guard doesn't carry a weapon? A foolish one. He was not well equipped for this environment, whilst he might have done some observation the previous day, he was still ignorant on this harsh environment.
What he did have however, was this miraculous blessing that Kai had bestowed him. The greatest boon of his life, the opportunity to overcome his inability to use magic or the mystic arts, this power allowed him some hope in this perilous situation. It was his saving grace and greatest asset, without it he was truly hopeless. He had already tinkered around using this blessing for thermoregulation in this environment, raising his body temperature to combat the cold. But he would need much more than that to survive here, he needed to test the limits of what he could do.
'It's pretty interesting, this power. It seems to respond strongly to 'will', or atleast the intensity of my 'will' plays a large role in the result and output. If that is the case, then that could explain how I managed to kill that large beast.'
Various thoughts were circulating throughout Dante's mind, creating some hypotheses on how this power works.
'It's all a matter of trial and error, that is how all theories are proven, that is how progress is made.'
Dante tested a variety of theories, exploring just what he was capable of. It ignited a spark of joy within him, in his confinement he had nothing to entertain himself with, but now he had the pleasure of refining and learning this newly obtained power. His dark abyssal eyes had a vibrant orange tint, the reflection of the ball of flame that he held in his hand.
'It seems that I really am immune to fire, I already confirmed this last night, when I placed my hand on the flame whilst cooking. This is good. It would be a detriment if I was incapable of resisting fire, I would have been left with a double edged sword that could easily backfire on me. That's the reason why most practitioners of the magical arts use a magical conductor when casting dangerous spells.'
Unlike in the legends and myths of old, where magic is viewed to be something mysterious and wonderous, in the Empire magic is taught to be structured and formulaic. Where the arcane arts have been extensively studied and their workings researched, this was one of the reasons for the Empire's prosperity, being one of the most advanced nations on the planet and a major global power. The advancement of magic played a large role in the success of the Empire, the nation had no equal in that regard, a true magical powerhouse. And the royal family, of which Dante is a member of, has a strong affinity with the arcane and magical arts. Dante believed his inability to perform magic to be his one and only flaw.
But now he possessed it, even though it may be a borrowed power, magic is still magic nonetheless.
'It's surreal. Thanks to Kai, I no longer have that burdensome weakness. I can finally be properly recognised. No longer will I suffer from the prejudice. But that's for the future, right now I have to focus on surviving and escaping this godforsaken forest.'
The forest was being painted with heavy strokes of snow, the icy wind blew with vigour, sending a terrible chill to run up Dante's spine. The northern land is notorious for it's frightful weather conditions, as such there was considerably less inhabitants than that of any of the other regions of the Empire. It was a land where only the strong survive, or at least those protected by the strong.
Dante's clothes were now completely drenched, this was clothing worn by a gaudy man for an event and were several sizes too large for him, hardly the ideal choice of winter wear for heavy snowfall. Include his frail condition on top of that, and then things truly did look bleak for him. The odds were not in his favour, it appeared as if the world itself was out to get him, his situation was truly pitiable.
He continued his venture through the forest, maintaining a consistent, yet fairly slow pace. His body was hardly in peak condition, and whilst his ability did aid somewhat in keeping him from freezing, it did take a slight toll on his already exhausted body. His stomach was growling with ferocity, he desperately needed to eat and gain some strength. His movements were growing more and more lethargic as he journeyed further through the forest.
'Surely there's something for me to eat. Please can I just stumble across some easy prey for fuck's sake!' Dante screamed internally, he was growing weary, he could feel his legs growing weak and his breath growing more laboured. His long obsidian hair swayed with the wind, the gentle snowflakes laced his hair and the fearsome hail accompanied it, proving to be quite the nuisance, though Dante did not have the effort to spare over something so trivial at the moment. His health was continuously declining, he needed both food and shelter, the weather was much too harsh for his current condition. However finding shelter in such a large forest would prove to be difficult, especially so with the abundance of terrors that infested it.
Dante noticed something. Movement. There was something moving on one of the trees, that just so happened to be on the larger side of those he had encountered so far. Dante's eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, and so he was able to detect this creature that was moving on the tree. He decided not to take any chances and continued in the same direction that he had been going so far.
And as he did so, this 'creature' did the same, following him as he trudged along lethargically. He was definitely being followed, Dante knew that and he also knew it's purpose in doing so.
'This bastard thinks I'm prey, stalking me whilst salivating at the thought of feasting on my flesh. Or at least whatever is left of it, I'm only skin and bones now. All because those bastards plotted against me! I swear I'll get them back for that! I will not fall to some meagre forest dweller that hides in the middle of fucking nowhere.'
Dante's conviction to live was strong. In order to live however, he would have to deal with this 'creature' that stalked him down. Which, in his current state, would prove difficult, especially so when his foe was waiting for his exhaustion to build and pick him off at his weakest.
'I'll need to do something to lure it out. Since it obviously has no plans on striking soon. It seems to be quite agile, the way it breezes between the trees, so it'll be pretty difficult to land a hit. Maybe if I use a large scale attack with my new power, I could be able to take it out, but that would drain my already dwindling energy and I'd be left defenceless if unsuccessful.'
"It appears that I have to take a mighty risk..." Dante spoke with a low and quiet mutter, his words trailing off at the end.
As the snow continued to swarm him, joined by the hail, Dante's fatigue had finally led him to collapse. Or at least that's what he wanted the creature to think. He lay face first in the snow, his body shivered with the terrible cold. His state was quite dire, it was a miracle that he had not died already, and now he teetered on the verge of entering into an eternal slumber in a thick bed of snow. The sweet whispers of death were calling to him like a lullably, enticing him to walk into the light and leave this world behind.
Dante refused to die.
The creature decided this was the time to strike, to finish their prey at it's weakest. Emerging from the trees with a gentle, controlled descent the creature could be seen from the corner of Dante's eyes. It's appearance was shocking to say the least. The body spanned at least ten meters in length, with a width of approximately four meters and a height of three meters, it's size was formidable, and it's appearance... was unsettling for the eyes, to say the very least. More than a dozen eyes, vertically slit, were visible on the creature's face, if it could even be called that, they were coloured a deep bloody crimson, with evident frenzy contained within. The face of the beast was disturbing to even glance at and would make anyone uneasy if they had the misfortune of seeing it. With a large and harrowing maw, that was home to dozens of razor-like teeth, that gleamed with a metallic grey, they resembled blades more than they did teeth, the face was a ghostly pale grey in colour, a shade that would not be easily noticed in this terrain. It didn't seem to have any ears or nostrils anywhere on it's face or it's circular head. It's body was reminiscient of a hybrid between that of a snake's and a centipede's, possessing a long main body with incredible flexibility. This body was armoured by an assortment of scales, coloured a white that seemed to mimic the snow, these scales formed a carapace that provided protection to the creature. A tail that split out into five, held the monster up from a thick branch of one of the titanic trees.
Dante was frozen still, he had just sat up from his bed of snow and was now staring at this creature, his mouth ajar, not hiding his shock, his face then contorted with evident disgust. His body trembled, both from fear and the cold.
"What an ugly bastard."
Dante's crude plan to bait it out was successful, now all he had to do was eliminate this creature.
'This might be a little more difficult than I expected.' Dante wore an awkward smile. He had always enjoyed a good challenge.
Dante's mind whirled with various thoughts and plans of approach, he lacked experience, but he had studied war and combat as part of his strict upbringing. He needed to apply the theory he possessed and gain experience through this encounter.
It took him only a few seconds for him to think up a makeshift plan. The creature was also looking to make a move, having now fully descended from the tree and it's grotesque body was now fully on the snow covered earth. The five tails were now swatting the ground, which appeared to be a unique hunting technique of it's species, swatting snow away as they did so, exposing the soil. Saliva was seen dripping from the creature's maw, it found Dante to be quite appetizing. The frenzy in it's eyes grew even more so with a mad hunger, it was about to strike.
Dante had also been preparing himself, both mentally and physically, his condition was abyssmal but he had to make do. He rose to his feet, the twigs that he called limbs creaked as he did so, he felt heavy, so very heavy. It seemed like a hopeless battle, Dante was the weakest he had ever been, whereas his foe was both formidable and determined. But Dante refused to die here, he still had much to do. Dante summoned his power, flames emerged from the palm of his right hand, they shifted from a vibrant orange to a roaring blue, the heat greatly intensifying, they condensed until they formed a structure within his grip. Dante held a spear of flames. He had received training in all sorts of weapons, he was a genius and proficient in all, spears included. Although he favoured swords, he championed a spear in this instance.
'Judging from it's behaviour it's going to launch itself towards me using the propulsion of it's tails to travel at great speed. I had already observed it to be a speedy creature with how it pursued, not once did it slow down during the pursuit, instead it maintained a comfortable pace just behind me and the way it glided between the trees with little to no effort. I'll have to make a reactive manuevour and predict it's path of attack, then capitalize with a lethal counterattack. A spear through the skull would kill almost anything.' Dante's plan was improvised, but he felt confident that it would be effective.
He gripped the spear with both hands and planted his feet at shoulder width apart with the right foot in front of the left, whilst remaining on the balls of his feet, he needed to be ready to react and then act. He tilted his spear forward at roughly 45 degrees, he was ready for battle. Dante had faith in his eyesight and trusted that he'd be able to see the moment the creature sprung forward, his eyes had never failed him before and enabled him to have great observation. His spear blazed with determination, he was ready. And so was his foe.
"Come forth, you filthy beast!"
And in the blink of an eye it did just that. Using it's five tails to launch itself forward the creature was now right in front of Dante, it's maw wide and prepared for a deadly bite, it was so close that Dante was able to smell the foul breath of the monster, it's metallic teeth threatening to chomp away at flesh and bone.
'Brush your teeth you filthy bastard!'
Dante made his move, having timed his movement immaculately he sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the attack. He was now to the side of the creature, the difference in size between them was immense. It reminded Dante of a tale he had once heard growing up, where a man slayed an opponent of much greater size using his wits and ingenuity. That was what Dante intended to achieve right here and now.
He thrusted his spear into one of the monster's many eyes, burning away at the surface flesh surrounding it, and then took several steps back and spun his spear around. He weilded his flaming spear in one hand, cocking it back over his shoulder and his body in a firm stance. He twisted his body and released his flaming weapon with a powerful throw, penetrating the skull of the creature. He succeeded.
"Take that! You lowly beast, how DARE you oppose me, know your place." Dante was a gracious victor.
The creature thrashed around in agony, it's death was inevitable, the flames were burning away at it's brain. Dante was beyond exhausted and on the verge of collapsing, and fell victim to a blow from one of the creature's tails, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying into a tree. The creature's thrashing stopped, it was dead and it's head had been reduced to a charred mess as the final embers died.
Dante won. Now he laid slumped at the bottom of a tree, with too many injuries to count and his head bleeding profusely, leaving crimson stains on the bark. His consciousness left him. He was in critical condition and would soon die.
A few minutes later a figure appeared, it's steps silent and careful. This figure was a human, a large man wearing clothing made from animal pelts, a wand could be seen on the left of his hip and a large knife on his right, his belt held some more survival essentials. His attire fitted the conditions well.
"What the heck?" The man was shocked at the sight of the scene. On the right, a boy lay dying by a tree and on the left was the charred corpse of an adult Bockorack, one of the more fearsome monsters that resided in this forest. It took a moment for the man to escape his daze, he decided to help the dying boy.
"Kid's about to meet Lady Death, surpirsed he's still breathing. Let's get you patched up and find out what happened here." He looked to boy over, dressed in gaudy attire with a design popular among the wealthy southerners. "He's only skin and bones, one hit and he'd break. What the fuck is he even wearing anyway? Suppose I'll take him back to the shack."
The man used some excess pelt to bandage Dante's head and then scooped him up, placing him over his shoulder and walked off. The strange boy wearing southern attire and sporting long obsidian hair and eyes of matching colour, had escaped death.