Alexander returned a few days later, having taken a lot longer than he told Dante it would take. But he eventually returned with a broken arm and several bruises. The mission, which was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance trip, had turned into a true nightmare.
He was on a mission to the northern forest where Dante was found to scout ahead of the coming dungeon expedition. They expected a quick journey where they would head out, locate the dungeon's entrance, and come back almost immediately.
The abominations are getting more and more active by the day. Alexander's battalion was even attacked three times during their mission. On their way to the forest, while camping, and on their way back. Many of the men had even started accusing Dante himself of being the cause, since all of those monsters' attacks started with finding him.
Many of the Blessed were religious folk who worshipped the system and whoever God created it, but they weren't superstitious folk. Even if they tried to blame Dante, there was no way someone blessed by their God could be an omen of bad luck. A Blessed can choose to do evil and become a criminal, but they can't be a curse.
Sadly, hearing those rumors spoken behind his back, Dante was the only one to believe them. Only he knew that he was Cursed and not Blessed. ^I hope this don't come to bite me back.^
Shifting his attention to his friend for a moment. "You look messed up." Dante couldn't believe how injured the knights were as he went to visit Alexander, who was getting treated at the church. But what amazed him the most was that even though most of them were injured, none had died.
"Remember the pack of wolves? The pack leader was waiting for us right there, and it was a whole Cursed Monster. It also had even more Scarred wolves with it. We could've easily gotten wiped out." Alexander smiled, "But this time we had two Blessed with us acting as battalion leaders and even several touched, so we made easy work of them. The two Blessed dealt with the Cursed Monster while we systematically hunted the Scarred Beasts."
Just remembering the Cursed Monster made the usually cheerful Alexander pale a bit. That thing was titanic, standing as big as the trees and commanding the plants themselves. Alexander could clearly see the human-like skull face, the pained roars, and the sheer devastation it brought with it when closing his eyes.
"That thing… it was no wolf. It was something else entirely." As he mumbled, a nun approached and informed them that it was Alexander's turn to get treated, so she dragged him to the operating room on the stretcher and left Dante waiting.
It didn't take long for Alexander to get treated enough that he could leave the church, and Dante was about to escort him back to the dorm, but Saint Maria suddenly came in with her guards. For a moment there, Dante almost got ready for a fight, but then saw something that drew his eyes. Beside her, a young girl with long black hair and bright green eyes strolled in her wheelchair.
"Dante." Alexander smiled. "That's the one that treated my wounds. She is quite a good healer." He was looking at the girl in the wheelchair, and she gazed at them with her slightly glowing emerald eyes as if studying Dante. With that cold stare and how perfect her porcelain skin was, she looked more like a creepy doll than a human.
Disturbed, Dante felt a cold sweat rushing down his back as something tingled inside his mind. He did hate the color green, but was certain that it wasn't her eyes creeping him out, but something else that made his whole body shiver and react in utter disgust.
^Who in the… better keep my distance. At least she is just a Mundane like us.^ He could clearly see her soul and knew she wasn't some horrid abomination masquerading as a human. "Would you two mind escorting her back to the Academy? We're busy with all the injured knights, so we can't spare anyone."
Dante was about to immediately refuse, but Alexander answered before he could even open his mouth with an enthusiastic voice. "Yes, of course!" Dante really wanted to punch him in the face, but held back. Can't he feel it? This disturbing sense of dread and anxiety?
"Thank you." Her face twisted into a faint smile. "I'm Alicia, and as you can see… I'm paralyzed from the waist down. I can go to the Academy on my own, but Lady Saint Maria always worries about me getting attacked on the way." Judging by how delicate and demure she looked, Dante couldn't even imagine her being able to run away, unless she got some powerful Blessing.
"Can't you just heal her?" Dante asked, throwing a sharp glare toward Saint Maria. "Or is there a limit to healing magic?" After a moment of silence, the Saint opened her mouth and giggled. "Yeah, I can't heal her. Such a case is beyond my ability, and is beyond everyone's abilities."
"Then I should probably keep that in mind." Dante shrugged, but before he could keep talking, Alicia opened her mouth with a giggle. "She is lying."
Everyone felt silent for a second, and then Alicia kept talking. "Lady Saint Maria can heal me, but if she does that, I'll lose my Blessing. It's my Vow that paralyzed me."
Dante's eyes widened, and he blinked several times. That makes sense. Most Blessed want to keep their Vows a secret. Saint Maria lied to keep Alicia's secret, but it seems that Alicia herself didn't mind telling them. "Are you sure you can just tell us about that?"
Alicia smiled. "No one besides Lady Saint Maria can heal me, and even she struggles with such a thing. Telling you about it won't change a thing, and I also have other ways of ensuring my vow isn't broken."
Even her innocent smile wasn't able to wash away the building uneasiness Dante was getting from her. But for now, he decided to just play along and dump her back at the Academy. No one said he should stick around her for any longer than he needed to.
And so, with that, they headed back to the Academy without wasting any more time. When they arrived, Alexander and Dante called Rain so she could take Alicia to the women's dorm, and with that, everyone got back to their normal lives.
A few days later, when Alexander had fully recovered, he and Dante joined the martial training class to hone their skill a bit. Even if Dante had no time to learn any martial skills, he still wanted to check how well he would fare in a fight.
Unlike the two, Rain couldn't spar with any other student due to her Blessing, which had left her almost alone, practicing her moves in the corner with Alicia watching her. The two seemed to have gotten as close to each other as Dante and Alexander were.
The current match was one that all the Blessed of the Academy wanted to watch. Alexander and Dante were about to clash. Those two were already known across the entire Academy for different reasons. Alexander was a rising star of the Paladin Order, a student who was already skilled enough to be invited into important missions.
Everyone in the dojo was already cheering for him. The men admired him, and the women loved him. He was, by all means, the exact opposite of Dante, who everyone couldn't wait to see get beaten.
Dante was the guy who humiliated their Saint, and the man whose life caused several knights to lose their lives to save his. Even here in the Academy, he was extremely unsociable and would snap at anyone who dared even ask him about his Blessing. Word out is that he had even tried to start a fight with Rain and got electrocuted.
Certainly, they weren't jealous at all that he got to hang out with the two celebrities of the Academy while being an absolute nobody.
The moment the bell rang, Alexander disappeared into a blur. Not literally, but he just moved so fast that Dante's eyes couldn't keep up with him. It even reminded Dante of how the Scarred wolves moved, fueled by their horrid powers. Of course, Dante had no time to think as the moment he blinked and lost track of Alexander, his body was already falling to the ground like a tree.
Alexander's Blessing empowered his already powerful body beyond human limits, and no mere Mundane had any business being as fast or strong as he was. In that single fraction of a second, he had tripped Dante and pushed him by the shoulder to drop him to the ground.
Dante didn't have any time to think, but his body moved on its own, fueled only by his survival instinct. He immediately threw his hand to catch Alexander's gi, which was accelerated even further by a single droplet of mana. That caught Alexander off-guard and ended up with both of them tumbling on the ground.
Rain stopped her practice and stared at them with beads of sweat dripping across her cheek. Her eyes widened, and her arms dropped. Did Dante just react to Alexander's moves? Due to his Blessing, Alexander was almost as physically gifted as a Touched.
"Dante is quick, isn't he?" Alicia spoke in a low voice, almost a whisper.
Alexander chuckled, "I knew you had a good reaction time ever since I saw you stab that Scarred wolf." He stood and fixed his gi, causing Dante to glare at him with an annoyed grimace.
"How come I've never seen you move like this before? Should've told me you're this fast." Dante was angry at himself more than at Alexander. He had seen his friend's armor and knew how heavy it was. He could barely lift the cuirass, let alone wear the full set and move in it.
"We all keep secrets, don't we? Well, at least to me, I don't have that many. Everyone here knows my Blessing and what it does." Flexing his biceps, Alexander's entire body seemed to glow faintly with golden light.
Alexander's Blessing empowered his body, giving him greater strength, speed, durability, and endurance in exchange for the vast majority of his mana. He then went on to study the holy magic of the Temple of Smiting in Saint Maria's church to be able to smite the abominations, which allowed him to learn Divine Smite.
Right now, Alexander only has enough mana for one Divine Smite at a time, which can allow him to one-shot abominations one class and rank above himself if he lands a direct hit. But instead of focusing on damage, Alexander decided to take the defensive route and get the heaviest armor he could get his hands on to survive the battlefield long enough to rank up.
Now, Dante had to think. Should he give up here and lose, or put more mana into his strikes and moves and try to win? The answer to that was simple.