Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 32

Upon entering the building, Mia ignored the long line of people and led Dante towards a large board to the side of the room. “These are the available classes, separated by the time they start and organized by their credit price.”

His attention was instantly drawn to it. The board was divided into four different sections; 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 5:00 pm, and 10:00 pm.

Looking at the times, he couldn’t help but wince. He knew that they would all be four hours long, but with an extra hour between each class, they may as well have been 5 hours each.

Against Mia’s judgment, he was planning on taking the maximum four classes, but now he was seriously reconsidering it. He wasn’t sure if he would even be able to keep up with that kind of schedule, and even if it were possible, he would severely miss the time lost with his bed.

Dante took a deep breath, even if it would be difficult, he needed to maximize his gains with the time he was spending in the academy. Besides, if he took four classes, there was no way Kayla was going to as well. That thought alone was enough to warrant a torturous schedule of four classes.

Dante began by looking at the first section, which was the 7:00 am classes. It was the most limited selection by far.

Several classes had to do with different types of weapon mastery in world essence manipulation, and their counterpart, the advanced versions. Dante glanced toward the advanced world essence manipulation class for swordsmanship for a moment, but his eyes were drawn to the last two classes on the list; mana manipulation and advanced mana manipulation.

One nice thing about the classes was that they were all 25 credits for the regular version, and 50 for the advanced version. Since 25 credits was the cheapest a class could be, he thought the prices were pretty good.

Dante turned to Mia. “What are the requirements for the Advanced classes?”

“It depends on the class.” She pointed to the advanced world essence manipulation class. “But you're more than ready for the advanced class, so I wouldn’t worry about it.”

That was something he was well aware of. Actually, to the best of his knowledge, there was nothing that he really needed to learn in advanced world essence manipulation class. The class focused on weaponizing world essence, then teaching techniques to improve control over the world essence. Thanks to Archie’s teaching style, and Mia’s techniques, he was pretty confident the only thing he would get out of the advanced class was more pain at the hands of Archie, who he was told would still be his instructor. “What about for something like mana manipulation.”

Mia’s eyebrows knit together, and she looked like she was going to ask him something when Kayla cut her off. “In order to be qualified for advanced mana manipulation, you need to first be able to internally control your mana, then push it out of your body. But I wouldn’t recommend taking mana manipulation, even though you’ll be able to use it, it’ll be close to useless without a magic Classification.”

He needed to find a way to justify taking a mana manipulation class… Something was strange though, Kayla’s description of mana manipulation sounded oddly familiar to the way he increased his awareness of world essence through Mia’s technique. It could mean that he could take advanced mana manipulation immediately.

Dante turned to Mia. “Isn’t that the same as-”

“It doesn’t matter, taking mana manipulation is a waste of your time.” Mia’s sudden interruption surprised him, but he got the message.

Dante scratched his chin as he stared at the board, trying to act like he was lost in thought over which class to take. “I don’t think there is anything else for me to learn in advanced world essence manipulation, and since Archie will still be my instructor I would just be signing up for a beating every day…” He turned back to the two of them. “I think I’m going to take advanced mana manipulation. Even if I can’t learn mana manipulation at a level that would be useful, I think that it would still be a good opportunity to learn more about its strengths and weaknesses without needing a healing session.” He finished the act by gesturing to his singed uniform.

Mia looked like she was thinking it over, but Kayla just smiled mischievously. “It would be my pleasure to demonstrate mana manipulation for you. It would be excellent one on one time.”

Dante just stared at her, eye twitching.

Then Mia spoke up, putting the final nail in the coffin. “Kayla has a valid point. Besides, I can just request a new instructor for your advanced world essence manipulation lessons.”

Dante glared at Mia.

Whose side is she on?

He struggled to stifle his groan. There was really no other reason to learn mana manipulation that he could think of.

After thinking it over, he decided to go ahead and do mana manipulation regardless. He may need to leave the academy earlier than he planned if someone got too suspicious, but he needed to at least learn the basics before that happened.

Dante rolled his eyes. “As much as I would love to spend one on one time with you Kayla, I think I would learn better from a real instructor.” Then he looked over at Mia. “And if I did get a new instructor for world essence manipulation, I think Archie really would kill me.”

Kayla stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re no fun.”

Mia had a look of hesitation on her face, but just nodded in acquiesce.

Seeing their reactions, he had to stop himself from releasing a sigh. Dante turned back to the board, inspecting the 12:00 pm section.

There were quite a few classes that caught his attention, but it was unfortunate that most of them were too expensive. He now only had 182 to work with, given the fact that he was going to spend 50 to take advanced mana manipulation. Two that drew his eye in particular were Dungeoneering and Advanced Dungeoneering, but they were 500 and 1,000 credits respectively. Taming was also on the list for 10,000, which was almost disappointing to look at.

There were also a few others in his price range that caught his eye. Basics of Alchemy for 25 points, and Identifying Potions and their Value for 50. Basic Blacksmithing for 25, Woodworking for 25, and a few other crafting skills, but they all seemed to be based around making and repairing weapons.

He was slightly disappointed with the second selection, all of the classes seemed to be based on different types of crafting professions or just understanding the professions better. It was strange that Dugeoneering was a part of the list though, it was something he would need to look into later.

He was going to go with the Potion Identification class, which seemed like it may come in handy one day. When he finally made it to the bottom of the list and saw a class that drew his eye; Basics of Enchanting for 70 credits.

Dante turned to Mia. “Is the Basics of Enchanting class only for Enchanter Classifications?” He had meant to learn more about enchantments for a while now.

Mia seemed pleased with his question. “Actually, it’s the opposite, Basics of Enchanting is for non-Enchanter Classifications. The class gives an overview of how enchantments are created and also teaches how to identify different types of enchantments as well as traps. It would be a great option for you, and its actually the class I would recommend.”

Based on Mia’s explanation of the class, the information he could learn might be invaluable. He hadn’t heard of enchanted traps before, but the fact that it was a possibility wasn’t surprising in the least.

“No, No way. Pick something else.” Kayla had a look of mortification on her face. “That is a commoner class, I can’t be seen in there.”

That made his decision final, he would be taking Basic Enchanting.

Dante looked back to Kayla and nodded at her words, almost reassuringly. Seeing her placated expression, he turned back toward the third section, which was for the 5:00 pm classes.

These classes seemed to be far more varied than the other sections, so he carefully read through each listing. Looking at the list Dante began to frown, and as he slowly made his way to the bottom, his frown only deepened.

All of the classes were expensive. There were a few that he could afford with his remaining 112 credits, but he would be severely limited in moving forward to his fourth selection… and all of those classes that he could afford seemed completely useless.

Dancing for 50? What are they thinking?

Basics of Acting and Lying was 85, which seemed ridiculous, but it was the only one he thought may be useful. There was an Etiquette class for 60, but after living with Mia his etiquette was passable at the very least. It improved especially quickly in the few days when Mia had been mad at him.

The only classes that were under 150 credits seemed to be geared toward minor lessons that nobles would learn.

Dante turned to Mia and pointed to Basics of Acting and Lying. “Is this class even worth taking?”

Mia nodded, surprising him. “It’s actually a class focused on Charisma.” She cleared her throat. “You may find it useful.” Her words caused Kayla to smirk.

A class on Charisma would be more than a little useful…

Still undecided, he chose to look at the 10:00 pm classes first to see what he would be able to take with 27 credits.

Surprisingly, and to his relief, all of the classes on the list were 25 credits. None of them were exceedingly useful, just four classes on different subjects; History of the Goddess, Origination and History of Wraiths, Guide to Magic Relics and Artifacts, Creatures and their Eating Habits.

The fact that all four of them only cost 25 credits meant that he could take Basics of Acting and Lying. But he was having a hard time choosing one.

History of the Goddess was the first he crossed off the list, it just didn’t seem like something that was as useful as the other three. He also dismissed Origination and History of Wraiths. He knew everything he needed to know about Wraiths already; if you see one run, and if it tries to collar you, kill yourself. That seemed to cover everything, and where they came from wouldn’t change anything.

The last two were harder to choose between. Learning more about different types of creatures was something that would be immensely helpful for his survival after leaving the academy, but the ‘and their Eating Habits’ gave him misgivings regarding the class. Most likely it was from the time he spent walking with Edward, and the man’s incessant talking about what mice ate and what ate them, for hours.

The last class, and the one he was considering the most, was Guide to Magic Relics and Artifacts. Dante glanced down at his combatant’s glove, if it weren’t for the glove, he wouldn’t have even considered the class over Creatures and their Eating habits. The glove had to have some uses, it absorbed blood and Classification marks.

Dante looked away from the board. “Alright, I’ve chosen my classes.” He looked at Kayla, somewhat smugly. “I don’t think you’ll be able to take them all, it’s going to cost 230 credits.”

Kayla puffed out her chest with pride. “I already have a little over 3,000 credits.”

What the fuck.

After finally ditching Kayla, he and Mia began walking back toward Housing District 1. The sun was already beginning to set, but the two of them still took their time. Now that the first semester was finished, and the second had yet to start, there was no longer an enforced curfew.

It seemed like the academy’s liveliness had also increased since the semester ended. The streets were flooded with vendors hawking their wares, drunk students, and couples who were out for a late-night stroll. It was like a week-long celebration that was finally coming to a climax.

Dante turned to Mia. “Do you want to get something to eat on the way back?”

“Hmm.” Mia seemed to think it over in a blatantly overexaggerated manner, eyes glancing upward as she pondered his question. “Let’s eat there.” She pointed.

Following the path of Mia’s gesture, he was surprised to see a restaurant. He had never eaten at a restaurant before, and it wasn’t that he didn’t want to, there was just never an opportunity. “Are you sure you want to eat there?”

Mia gave him a roughish smile. “Of course I am, let's go.” She snagged his hand, and he allowed himself to be dragged into the restaurant.

Upon walking into the restaurant, the waiter by the door saw his Housing District 1 uniform and was immediately flustered. “Welcome to the Silver Pig my lord.” The waiter bowed quickly. “Could I interest your lordship in one of our private rooms?”

He hadn’t realized how out of place he was until the waiter greeted him. Looking around at the other patrons of the restaurant, he realized that he was the only ‘noble’ there. There wasn’t even anyone from Housing District 2 or 3, there were only regular students.

He glanced over to Mia, wondering whether or not she would want a private room, and was surprised to see the way she seemed to take in the restaurant. There was a smile on her face as her eyes seemed to bounce from the cooks in the kitchen, to the waiters carrying the food, to the tables where others were eating. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought it was her first time eating at a restaurant and not his.

Dante cleared his throat. “Mia, did you want to eat in a private room?”

She answered the question somewhat absentmindedly. “Sure.”

Dante turned back to the waiter, who seemed baffled by his interaction with a servant. “We will take a private room.”

The two of them were led to an isolated room that had a table made for two.

The waiter handed him a menu. “Here you are my lord.” Then he looked uncertain as he turned to hand Mia a menu. “…My lady. I’ll be back in a few minutes to take your order, please take your time.”

The waiter was clearly confused by their relationship dynamic as a master and servant, and it was somewhat amusing to watch him rush out of the room.

Picking up the menu, he began to look through it. Being a common restaurant that wasn’t visited by nobility, the selection was rather limited. There were several choices, but they mostly consisted of soups and cuts of meat served with vegetables. His eyes were drawn to one of the pricier items, vermillion scaled lizard served with assorted vegetables for 50 copper coins. It was by far the most exotic item on the menu, and ‘assorted vegetables’ seemed vague, but he couldn’t resist the temptation of trying something he hadn’t eaten before.

Dante glanced up to Mia to see what she was going to order, and was surprised to see how happy she seemed as she slowly worked her way down the menu, carefully reading each option. Her behavior had been somewhat odd ever since they walked in the building. “Is this your first time eating at a restaurant?”

Mia glanced up at him, and her smile faltered. “I used to frequent them quite often with my mother, but I haven’t been to one in several years.”

Judging by her reaction, it was a touchy subject, and he regretted bringing it up and ruining her mood. “Does anything on the menu sound good to you?”

“Right now I’m between the potato soup, the garden minestrone, and pork cutlets with carrots. What about you?” As Mia listed off the several menu items that caught her interest, her smile slowly returned, and he had to stop himself from sighing in relief.

“I’m considering the vermilion scaled lizard.”

Mia maintained her smile, but it seemed slightly more forced. “That may not be the best decision.”

He looked at her curiously. “Why?”

“Vermillion scaled lizard is a creature that is served in high-end restaurants. If they are serving it here for only 50 copper coins, the meat will likely have been cut from the leftover carcasses thrown out by those establishments.”

He frowned, that didn’t sound very appetizing. At that moment the waiter came back in the room to take their order. “What would you like to eat my lord?”

Dante glanced up to the waiter, according to the adequate Mia taught him, she should have been the first to order. “You can take her order first.”

“Of course my lord, I’m terribly sorry.” The waiter seemed to become even more flustered. If their status were the same, Mia would have ordered first. The waiter clearly believed that he had misread the situation and offended him. “What would you like my lady?” There was almost no hesitation when he said ‘my lady’ this time.

The treatment, or just his manners, seemed to make Mia even happier. “I’ll take the garden minestrone.” She handed the waiter her menu.

“Excellent choice my lady.” The waiter turned toward him. “And you, my lord?”

The vermillion scaled lizard definitely didn’t seem like a great option anymore, so he decided to follow Mia’s expertise. “I’ll do the same.”

“Another excellent choice, I’ll have it brought right out.” The waiter quickly collected the menu’s and rushed out of the room.

“Dante.”

He looked up to Mia. “Yes?”

Mia averted her gaze slightly. “Thank you.”

The words took him off-guard, they seemed to come from nowhere. “For what?”

A slight tinge of crimson appeared on Mia’s face. “You’re the first friend I’ve had in years.”

For a moment the two of them just stared at each other. He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t even know how to feel.

He finally had a real friend.