Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 72

As they watched another two fighters go on stage, Charlotte turned to Evelyn and Dante. “Thoughts?”

Dante examined the two fighters. One was about average height and lanky, carrying a halberd onto the stage, the other was barrel-chested and carrying a sword. Of course, appearances didn’t mean much when the fights were almost solely based on attributes and weapon skill. Skills, mana manipulation, and world essence manipulation weren’t allowed. “I’ll go with the swordsman, if only because the halberd’s range wouldn’t be too effective once the swordsman gets up close. Is this a dispute, or just a standard duel?”

“Dispute.”

The two of them turned to Evelyn, who was staring at the two combatants intently. Somehow, she hadn’t guessed wrong yet. “Neither of them seem to be that strong. I think the combatant with the halberd will win, but take a heavy cut before the fight it over.”

He had found Evelyn and Charlotte's company to be quite pleasant during the feast. He had his misgivings when Warlord Auron placed him between the two beauties, but they were surprisingly friendly, and in a normal way.

The fight on the stage started, and the three of them watched with rapt attention. Disputes were always far more interesting - and barbaric - than the regular duels. They were between two combatants from Warlord Auron’s army who had resolved to fight to the death for one reason or another. As fighters from smaller mercenary groups, their strength wasn’t too great, but it was still far more interesting to watch them than it was to watch the regular duels.

Unlike the disputes, the standard duels weren’t organized prior to the feast. They were ‘spontaneous.’ Which generally meant two arrogant showoffs went on stage and took turns trying to display their ability before Warlord Auron. It was rare for them to even have a victor, both combatants would just simultaneously call it a draw. Only one regular duel ended in a death. A fight over a woman, and it was the only regular duel that Warlord Auron applauded. It had done nothing but reaffirm his decision to keep as much distance between himself, Evelyn, and Charlotte as possible.

Of course, there were other reasons for combatants to agree to a dispute fight during the feast. If they impressed Warlord Auron, it was possible that they could be promoted.

The fight on stage kicked off, and it immediately became clear that Evelyn would be correct yet again. The halberd fighter was easily able to keep the swordsman at bay, keeping him at a range and blocking any sword thrust that came his way. Still, they were both sloppy.

After almost an entire minute of being at a disadvantage, the swordsman seemed to become restless, throwing himself at the halberd fighter recklessly. The halberd fighter was ready for it though, and seemed to end the fight by impaling the swordsman on his blade.

Everyone looked on in surprise when the swordsman wasn’t stopped by the fatal attack. He threw himself at the halberd fighter and stabbed him with his sword before going slack.

The result was one dead swordsman, and one severely injured halberd fighter. Warlord Auron was the first to stand and loudly applaud, but he was quickly followed by everyone else in the great hall.

Dante turned to the dark-haired Evelyn. “Okay, there is no way you aren’t using a skill.”

From his other side, Charlotte began to laugh. “Looks like he finally caught on.” Charlotte was definitely the more mischievous of the two, which seemed oddly suitable with her red hair.

Evelyn remained coolheaded, but still had a pleased smile as she shrugged. “It’s a scouting skill that allows me to roughly guess how strong someone is. It’s definitely not perfect, and I’m still guessing, but it does help.”

That gave him pause, and he now felt far more vulnerable. It was almost as though he was naked in front of Evelyn’s gaze.

Dante cleared his throat. “Out of curiosity, is there a way to block skills like yours?”

Evelyn nodded. “Of course. In fact, you could buy an item that can block it from Charlotte’s shop. I’m actually surprised you didn’t know, both your aunt and sister already have a way to block it.”

Dante let out a sigh. “For some reason, the two of them seem to enjoy keeping me in the dark until it’s inconvenient for them.” He turned to Charlotte. “What kind of shop do you run?”

Charlotte’s cheeks had a tinge of red as she glared at Evelyn. “Evelyn misspoke. It isn’t my shop, but my father’s. We both have the Artificer Classification.”

Evelyn seemed undeterred by Charlotte’s gaze. “It might as well be your shop. You practically do everything. Besides, you are already far more skilled than your father, despite being an entire specialization lower.”

“How is that possible?”

Evelyn shrugged. “A lot of money and not enough practice. A crafter can buy levels, but they can only go so far by just leveling their Classification. Especially Artificers, it is one of the most challenging crafting professions.”

“Evelyn, shut up.” Charlotte shot another glare at Evelyn, then turned to face him. “Father is just busy managing things, he is a perfectly good Artificer.”

Dante didn’t hesitate nod, then acted as though he was interested in the duel on stage to take himself out of the now awkward conversation. It wasn’t very interesting though. The two fighters were quite obviously putting on a show, each sword attack flourishing in ways that were completely ineffective, but it did look nice.

It ultimately ended when the two admitted that they were too evenly matched. Unsurprisingly, they even earned a bit of applause, likely from their friends or other members of their mercenary group. He gave a cursory glance at their armbands to confirm his suspicions, and wasn’t surprised to see that they both had the same two colors, orange and red.

“Miss Olivia has arrived!”

Upon hearing the Heralds shout, every head in the great hall turned to see Olivia standing at the entrance. Her face immediately flushed bright red as she looked down at her feet and all the men in the room perked up just like they had for Melisandre, but there was no warlord to deter them this time.

Olivia looked just as beautiful as she had before, but her demeanor was completely different. She looked sick, and had none of the liveliness she had when preparing for the feast earlier that morning.

Ignoring the gazes of those around her, and brushing past anyone who walked forth to greet her, Olivia walked over to the long table that shot through the center of the room and sat as close to Melisandre as possible.

It was hard to watch as Olivia sat with a dour expression, but it seemed to be the only thing keeping the men away. They all hovered over her, it looked like none of them wanted to be the first to approach.

Unsure of what to do, Dante looked at Melisandre, who tore her gaze away from Olivia to lock eyes with him for a brief moment before turning back and talking to Warlord Auron.

He was trying to understand what Melisandre’s intentions, were when he felt a prod on his side. Evelyn grabbed his attention, then furtively glanced back at Olivia. “I don’t think that your sister is feeling well, maybe you should take her home.” Judging by the look that Charlotte was giving him, she wholeheartedly agreed.

Dante nodded in assent, then stood. “I think that might be a good idea.”

He walked past Evelyn to where Olivia was sitting, just a bit further down the table. For a moment, it seemed that the men who were hovering over her would stop him, but they let him through unmolested.

He sat next to Olivia, and even though she was aware of his presence, she didn’t even look up. Dante cleared his throat. “Olivia?”

“What?” Olivia didn’t even look up at him, and her tone was completely deadpan. Melisandre had said that she would act more like herself for a few days, but this couldn’t have been what she meant.

He decided to follow Melisandre’s advice and use a bit of tact. “I’m a bit tired and feel like turning in for the night, but I’m not sure that I can find my way back to our inn. Do you think you could guide me back?”

Olivia gave a slight nod of assent, and he had to hold in his sigh of relief as the two of them stood. It felt like he was walking on thin ice.

As he stood, he felt a hand press against his chest. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” One of the larger men that was hovering over Olivia held him in place.

Dante looked at the man incredulously. “Seriously?” It didn’t take a genius to see that Olivia was in a precarious place mentally.

The man wasn’t deterred in the slightest. “We were here first, you can’t just jump ahead.”

“What are you even talking about?”

The man smiled at Olivia lasciviously. “Aldric told us how easy she is. You can have the whore after we-”

Seeing Olivia flinch in his periphery, he reacted without thinking. There was a loud crack as his knuckle connected with the man’s chin.