Beatrice's breath came shallow, her eyes wide as she stared at the colossal wheel that floated behind her.
Its gears rotated in slow, purposeful turns, each click echoing softly across the dream, looking at it, this thing beyond her understanding beckon her in a weird way.
The red and gold runes shimmered with faint light, fragments of ancient looking syllables she didn't recognize.
She took a cautious step forward, her voice prominent as she speak.
"So… this is it?" She asked softly.
"The thing that will give me power?" Dante leaned back in his chair, one leg crossing over the other, eyes gleaming faintly violet under the office's pale glow.
"Yes."
He said simply. "That is called the Wheel of Dreams, a bridge between desire and chance is the best way to describe what it is."
Her voice trembled, as she move closer and close to the floating wheel, as she asked, with genuine interest. "How do I use it?"
Dante merley replied with. "It's pretty self-explanatory, really."
Said Dante with a faint smirk. "You see that lever on the right? Pull it down, and when you do that, the wheel will spin and gift you an ability."
'I mean come on it's common sense.'
He inwardly thought to himself.
"But there is a catch, spinning the wheel is bond to give you power I was not lying about that part, however each ability comes with a flaw. A curse that ties to your soul basically. The stronger the gift, the heavier the burden... So when you get your power, and learn what the gift is, you better take whatever warning you get seriously." Beatrice swallowed, her throat dry when she heard this.
"So even if I win… I could still lose something." Dante chuckled softly. "That is the way of us Spirits. Balance and consequence. But for now... He gestured lazily toward the wheel. "Go ahead. Try your luck."
Beatrice turned back to the shining mechanism. This was what she had dreamed of — power, freedom, a chance to no longer be helpless. Her hand quivered as she reached for the lever.
"Will this really give me a Spirit Technique?" She asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer.
Dante's gaze softened just slightly. "Yes! That is indeed correct. But from here on out, everything depends on luck. You could get something magnificent, something mediocre, or something utterly cursed. The Wheel is infinite in what it can gift to a person, it offers everything and nothing, all at once."
He smiled faintly, a smile so devious almost excited even as this was no different from his prime gacha days when he would spend thousand just pull something good.
But in this case, the reward won here was fsr more better than anything earth has to offer, as the rewards here affect you in real time. Deep down he was praying she gets something good, the gambler inside him screaming to pull it already as he mentally cheer her on. "But that is what makes it fun, you don't know what you will get." He said lastly.
Then Beatrice, now in front of the Wheel lever, began to reach for it, her fingers brushed against the cold metal of the lever spherical red top. For a moment, she hesitated, but the she took a deep breathe in a pull while saying "Please lend me strength lady luck." Those where the last words, she said, as pulled the lever downwards.
The Wheel roared to life right after.
The gears spun violently, sigils flaring with multicolored light as if the dreams of countless souls were burning within them.
The sound was deafening, a mix of gear spinning like crazy inside, and music began to play as she wait to see what she draws from the wheel.
Finally, the Wheel slowed, its runes flickering between thousands of names, techniques, and symbols before stopping with a sudden metallic clang.
The sigil that glowed was deep azure, a mark shaped like an open palm crushing invisible air.
Virgil's voice echoed coldly through the void, mimicking Beatrice own.
[Result confirmed. Manifesting Ability: Pressure Control]
[Curse assigned: Hollow Breath]
Beatrice staggered as the symbol lifted from the Wheel and burned itself onto her right arm. The mark pulsed faintly with each beat of her heart.
"Ahhhhh." She staggered in pain, and gasped as a crushing sensation filled the air, her aura spiked uncontrollably, and the pressure around her grew thick and heavy.
"W-What… is this?"
She breathed hardly, trying hard to fight for her breathe.
Dante watched her calmly.
"Pressure Control." He said, and then began to speak saying. "You can bend the atmosphere, gravity, and force around you — crush, repel, or shield yourself at will. A powerful Spirit Technique for a first draw."
Beatrice looked at her trembling hands, feeling the invisible weight respond to her emotions. She could feel it, the pulse of the gravity itself around her, but she found it hard to breathe. So hard in fact, she feels like she is about to passed out if she doesn't get proper breathe of air.
Dante seem to see what the curse that come with this power is, as he began to explain.
"But the curse." Dante added, his tone much quieter now. "Hollow Breath means that your lungs are no longer truly yours. Every time you overuse your ability, you'll start suffocating. Your air will turn to dust until you force yourself to stop. Push it too far, and you'll collapse and die from suffocation."
Beatrice's smile faltered. "I see, still, that isn't so bad, it I can control pressure, doesn't that mean in theory I can also create black holes?" Dante just nodded his head and said. "Yap, although I don't know how much power come with this new power of yours, you will need to expirment for yourself."
"I know that, still why am I already breathing hard, I barley even use it?" Dante of course already knew. "Because you just got it, the more you use it the more accustomed to it you will get." Said Dante. "It is a heavy price, if I can't breathe it is so hard to focus."
"Everything has a price to pay." Dante said softly, rising from his chair. "Still, for your first game… you did well, Lady Beatrice."
Dante said as the Wheel dimmed and dissolved into golden dust, Beatrice stared at her marked arm, fear and awe swirling in her eyes.
But was soon caught off guard at Dante's next words.
"Still, we have one more game remaining, this one is high stakes." Dante said, as this would be the game that will determine if she gets Beatrice as an Avatar or not.