It took Dante and Califa about 30 minutes of walking to get to their destination.

The Mages Guild.

It honestly looked just like a library to him, which he supposed made some sense.

Large stained glass windows showing men, and women, performing great feats of magic.

Casting fireball, a dome that deflected away an enemies spell, what appeared to be a woman standing next to a walking skeleton with blue points for eyes.

"So the windows show the different schools of magic?" he wondered aloud.

"Yes, that's correct young man. Have you come to study the arcane arts?" A voice came from off to his left.

Turning he saw a human woman with red hair braided and put into a bun putting some rather large tomes back on a shelf.

She wore a set of simple blue spellcaster's robes.

Immediately he realized he had walked into the guild while his mind was busy with his question.

"Yes, I have. This is my friend Califa. She is showing me around the town." He said, giving the mage a warm smile.

The woman smiled back at him in turn brushing some loose strands of hair back over her ear.

In that moment he felt something within him shift, almost like it was... growing?

+1 Cha...

'Well damn...' He thought before shaking his head and returning to the moment, as the woman approached.

"May I assume this is your first time here?" She asked.

"Yes, my world was brought into the system only about a day ago, in here anyway." He said.

"You're certainly one of the more interesting people I've met from your world. Earth was it?" she asked with a curious smile.

"Yes. Now...what do I do here? I'm new so you'll have to walk me through this." Dante said with a strained smile.

"Oh don't feel bad about that. It's our job here to help introduce new individuals to magic so it's no problem. Follow me please." She said as she beckoned with her finger come-hither.

Dante took a step forward to follow her only to receive a swift elbow to the ribs from Califa.

He heard his ribs creak as she hit him.

*CAUGH!*

Congratulations! Your skill, Mundane Damage Resistance, has leveled up! Lvl. 2...

Dante fell to the floor, having had the wind knocked out of him by the swift and powerful blow.

Clutching his side, he felt as if it were on fire.

Califa's expression of discontent turned to one of concern as she took a knee.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do it that hard!" She said as she tried to help him get breathing again.

Their mage woman turned around hearing the commotion rushing to his side.

Looking up he saw his health had dropped.

'Son of a bitch she did 100 damage with that!' Dante thought as best he could though his mind was cloudy from the pain.

Dante struggled to get some breath back in his lungs, desperately trying to make them work again.

Before the mage women could even ask what had happened as she knelt down.

*GASP*

*Cough*

*Cough*

*Cough*

He finally got his breath back bringing on a small coughing fit.

+1 Con...

'Fuck off!' he yelled in his mind, not able to enjoy the small health increase.

Dante waved off the words of concern from the two lovely women at his sides, not in the mood after having that elbow to the side.

"I'm... I'm fine! I'll be fine. Let's just go please." he said before giving further assurance that he was fine.

He wasn't exactly happy with what had just happened.

They began making their way farther into the large library like building passing shelves upon shelves of scrolls and books.

"You owe me a drink." He said without turning his head, trying his best not to smile despite the pain.

He rubbed his sore side as they walked.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw her raise a hand as if to object, before thinking better of it.

A smile grew on her face as they continued on.

+1 Per...

After that he pulled up his status page and put 15 into both Strength and Con.

The stat increase made him feel better but his side still hurt from the impact.

After a second of thought he put 5 points into Dex, 7 into Luck, and 9 into Perception.

Bringing the average for his stats to about 34.

Stats

Resources

Total

Regen.

Strength

42

Health

1,201

(48.7x2=97.4/min)

Constitution/Vitality

52

Mana

1,041

(28.5/min)

Endurance

33

Stamina

916

(43.5x2=87/min)

Dexterity

27

Road Points

68

Willpower

41

Stat Points

4

Intellect

35

Luck

28

Wisdom

30

Perception

28

Charisma

31

Spirit

30

After a moment they arrived at a set of several large glass orbs, each about the size of a bowling ball.

Seeing this, he shut his status page.

Several seemed to be occupied by other people each speaking to someone dressed in fine wizards robes.

Some were more shabby than others.

But they came to an empty one where the mage woman pulled a clipboard from thin air along with a pen and then asked him to place his hands upon the orb.

"What is this for?" He asked for confirmation of some of the things he already suspected.

"This item allows for the measurement of your magical aptitude. Please state your name and level as well for the record please." She said.

So Dante obliged her, placing his hands upon the orb which began to shine.

"Dante Stone, level 23." He said.

"Alright then it seems your aptitude is a little above average for someone of your level. Have you unlocked mana manipulation by chance?" She asked whilst tilting her head and biting her pen.

"I have actually. I managed to remake 2 small spell's since I arrived here." He said with a measure of pride.

'They were only cantrips but still.' he thought to himself.

"Really? It seems we have an aspiring mage here. Not often do we get such...capable beginners." She said before pausing for a moment to shake her head.

After writing down the information on her clipboard she spoke.

"Can you please state the level of your mana manipulation skill, the names of the spells you remade and their levels for the record please." She asked whilst looking down at her board.

"One moment please..." He said whilst he brought up his skills menu to check the level of mana manipulation.

"Mana manipulation level 3, Spells: Light and Dancing lights, both are cantrips." He stated simply not expecting the result.

The mage womens paused her writing before looking up.

"What's a can...trip?" She asked with a look of confusion on her face.

'A translation issue?' He questioned.

"Oh imagine it as a level 0 spell. Not very powerful, but it doesn't require mana from the user to cast." He said, as it was no big deal.

"Really! I'm sure it would be fine for you to give a demonstration of these low powered spells then if you would be so kind. For the record of course." She said with a smile that tried to mask her avarice for arcane knowledge.

Nodding he proceeded to cast light on the robe of Everlasting Life.

Which now that he thought about it, made him look a little flashy.

'Ah fuck it! I'm not taking this robe off.' he thought before he spoke.

"This is the cantrip Light. A simple touch ranged spell that lets you imbue light onto an object so long as it's not too big. Also it can't be used on creatures. It sheds light out for about a dozen or so feet and lasts an hour." He said before dismissing the effect.

He paused for a moment allowing the mage to finish writing her notes.

When she nodded he cast Dancing lights.

Appearing in the air above his head four softball sized orbs of soft golden light appeared.

Taking one hand off the glass orb he began to twirl his index finger in the air causing the orbs to begin spinning around in the air above his head.

"And this spell?" She asked, watching very carefully to not miss a single detail.

"Dancing lights create up to 4 torch sized orbs of... ah screw it." Dante said whilst producing the blue box for Dancing lights.

"This will be faster." He said, handing her the blue box.

Dancing Lights, Cantrip

You create up to four torch-sized lights within range, making them appear as torches, lanterns, or glowing orbs that hover in the air for the duration. You can also combine the four lights into one glowing vaguely humanoid form of Medium size. Whichever form you choose, each light sheds dim light in a 10-foot radius.

You can move the lights up to 10 feet a second, to any spot within range. Any light created by this spell must be within 20 feet of any other light created by this spell, and a light winks out if it exceeds that range or the spell’s range.

Casting time: At will, Range: 120 feet, Duration: Concentration up to 10 minutes.

"Remarkable..." she said as she copied down the contents of the blue box onto her clipboard.

'At will cantrips, no material components, Fuck yeah!' He thought then smiled, and then got back on track.

"The spell is more versatile than you might think at first glance. For example..." He paused for a moment, willing the orbs to change.

Quickly the orbs reshaped into the form of something that looked like four crude fairies flying in perfect sync.

However, to an outside observer only the ones in front of him at any moment actually moved their wings made of light.

+1 Int, +1 Wis...

'Nice...' He thought before continuing to speak. "It says you can shape it into these three things but doesn't say you can't shape it into other things. It also doesn't say..."

One by one the fairies made of light began to change color.

One becoming red, another blue, another green, and the final one retaining its original golden color.

Dante couldn't help but admire the magic, just taking it in for a moment.

"Are you using mana manipulation to achieve that?" The mage woman asked her eyes darting between the lights and her notes.

Dante looked to his right to see Califa and more than a dozen other people, including several mages watching his little display with awe and splendor in their eyes.

"No, shaping is part of the spell. My apologies, I never caught your name. My name is Dante Stone by the way." He said remembering his manners.

The female mages pen stopped once more as she looked up, appearing startled for a second before putting on a smile and extending out her hand.

"My apologies as well. You can call me Kander Mason. But back on the topic of the spell's..." She returned to magic once more burying her face in her notes.

"It truly is Intrinsic shaping, astounding! It normally takes days to work such things into spells of even low levels." Kander whispered.

Dante paused for a moment as he saw a small icon flashing in the top right of his vision.

Focusing on it brought up a notice saying he had received a friend request from Kander.

He accepted it and moved forward with the magic.

After a moment she told him he could cancel the spell.

"What's next?" He asked

"Please place both hands on the orb and try to channel your mana into it. We will be testing your mana affinities." She said in a very doctor-esque manner.

He paused for a moment thinking of the possible repercussions of this.

Then the notice appeared.

Follow the directions Dante. Preparations have been made for this eventuality. A System representative has been dispatched. You need only comply until their arrival. Under no circumstances are you to mention the name, Crimson King!- Message from System Administrator of Earth System Pylon…

The system is watching you...

"Ok then." He said simply, his face a bit scrunched.

'Guess I'm in the hands of the system now.' He thought as he placed his hands upon the orb once more and tried to push his mana into it.

A minute and 100 mana later the once shining orb had taken on a lighter shade of red.

"It would appear that you have..." Kander paused as she looked upon the orb, her eyes going wide for a moment as she consulted her notes.

Suddenly she stopped giving a small jump, her eyes slowly scanning as if reading unseen text.

'Probably reading some system message...' He thought.

Without a word Kander stepped forward and with a wave of her hand it appeared that her inventory opened before enveloping the orb and closing once more.

"Excuse me, you three." A calm voice came from over his head and forward a bit.

Looking up they saw the headmaster stepping out of his office door on the second floor.

To the man's left could be seen a humanoid of muted features whose white skin glowed slightly, and wore a fine suit.

-----------------------

A moment later the three of them had been escorted, by several guards, up to the office of the Headmaster, as Kander had identified it.

The door closing behind them with a soft click.

Lining the office walls were shelves upon shelves of books and scrolls.

Though the room was only about 20 feet by 20 feet, it was packed with all sorts of items.

From the shelves to the workbenches covered in items in various stages of assembly or disassembly.

"Step forth please Kander." Said the Headmaster as the system rep took a step closer to her.

Kander stepped forward, worry painted across her face as the system rep held out its hand.

"The orb please." It stated simply.

Though Dante questioned how it could even speak due to looking like a person sized slender man.

The system rep twitched for a moment and a great weight could be felt in the air.

The light from its skin suddenly brightened before leveling off as it looked to him.

"Please do not think such things. Such thoughts often spawn very dangerous monsters." the figure said as the weight in the air evaporated, and the light coming from the system rep returned to what it had been.

Kander looked to Dante for a moment before she grasped the system rep's hand and a blue box appeared to each of them.

Nodding in acknowledgment the system rep turned to the Headmaster and nodded.

The Headmaster stood and pointed at both Califa and Kander.

For a moment they looked scared, but then their faces went blank.

"You both saw that when this young man touched the orb to measure his affinities that he didn't possess any. You think the only reason why you all were called up here was to be given special attention for the young man's accomplishments. You don't remember the orb being moved and came here only to support this young man. There's no reason to be worried. All is fine here." the Headmaster said sitting as he finished.

Looking at Dante he gave a look of, 'Say Nothing.'

Califa and Kander shook their heads and blinked several times before Kander asked, "I'm sorry sir, did you say something?" She asked in confusion.

"I said only that the two of you may wait downstairs for me to finish my discussion with this young man." he said with a small smile. His face betrayed nothing of what had just transpired.

The first to walk off was Kander who flashed Dante a brilliant white smile filled with joy as she waved goodbye on her way out the door.

Califa hung back for a moment saying, "I'll be downstairs reading so just come find me when you're done here." She said with a small forced grin.

"I will." he simply responded, and with that she left.

Leaving Dante alone with the system rep and the Headmaster.

The walls shimmered for a moment similar to when he had Virgil make his anti sound barrier.

"So do you have any questions before we begin?" the Headmaster asked with his hands clasped in front of him.

Now at a closer range he could see the man more clearly.

He was an older gentleman whose skin seemed worn and tanned as if he had spent many a day in the sun.

His salt and pepper hair was edging closer to being salt with flecks of pepper making it even more apparent of his advanced age.

He wore a fine set of ornately decorated and embroidered blue spellcaster's robes.

"If you have no questions then we may..." he began to speak before being cut off.

"No wait! I'm sorry, I do have a few questions!" Dante said quickly trying to recoup the time he had lost with his inspection.

The Headmaster leaned back in his chair waiting.

"What did you do to them?" he asked.

"I tested out a new spell I aquired recently. A little something called Modify Memory. I was going to leave it to the system but I thought it would be a perfect time to try the spell." The Headmaster said with cocky grin while inspecting his nails.

"Oh, makes sense. Let me check something out real quick. System store, spells, Modify memory, D&D 5th edition." Dante said hoping to be proven right.

Modify Memory, 5th level Enchantment You attempt to reshape another creature's memories. One creature that you can see must attempt to resist the spells effect. If you are fighting the creature, the difficulty is halved. Should it fail, the target becomes Charmed by you for the Duration. The Charmed target is Incapacitated and unaware of its surroundings, though it can still hear you. If it takes any damage or is targeted by another spell, this spell ends, and none of the target's memories are modified.

While this charm lasts, you can affect the target's memory of an event that it experienced within the last 24 hours and that lasted no more than 10 minutes. You can permanently eliminate all memory of the event, allow the target to recall the event with perfect clarity and exacting detail, change its memory of the details of the event, or create a memory of some other event.

You must speak to the target to describe how its memories are affected, and it must be able to understand you for the modified memories to take root. Its mind fills in any gaps in the details of your description. If the spell ends before you have finished describing the modified memories, the creature's memory isn't altered. Otherwise, the modified memories take hold when the spell ends.

A modified memory doesn't necessarily affect how a creature behaves, particularly if the memory contradicts the creature's natural inclinations, Alignment, or beliefs. An illogical modified memory, such as implanting a memory of how much the creature enjoyed dousing itself in acid, is dismissed, perhaps as a bad dream.

A Remove Curse or Greater Restoration spell cast on the target restores the creature's true memory.

At Higher Levels: If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, you can alter the target's memories of an event that took place up to 7 days ago (6th level), 30 days ago (7th level), 1 year ago (8th level), or any time in the creature's past (9th level). Cast time: 1 second, Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute, Range: 30 feet, Base Mana Cost: 600, Purchase Price: 100 large gold

'Well son of a bitch. I am going to buy so many spells!' Dante thought before a new thought crossed his mind.

"How did you get both of them with it?" Dante asked curious as he read and reread the description.

"A little ability of mine that let's me double the number of targets an enchantment spell can affect. It has gotten me out of a tricky situation a time or two let me tell you..." He looked like he was going to continue but seeing a chance Dante interrupted.

"Another time perhaps." He said with a grin.

The Headmaster looked confused for a moment before he grinned as well.

"On another topic, I was honestly watching the display and was going to ask you up here before the representative arrived by teleporting into my office!" The headmaster said with a sarcastic smile whilst looking at the representative.

"I make no excuses or apologies. It was the fastest way to get the situation under control." the system rep said in a calm voice.

"That reminds me, what did you mean by 'leave it to the system' earlier?" Dante asked the Headmaster.

"Ah, the system as you have likely seen is able to take direct action when it's called for. I assume you've seen something of this kind, no?" He asked, looking rather curious.

"Yeah...I saw the system spawn an avatar that delivered its message and then turned to the guy who was about to ascend to the highest position of power in my country. With a snap of its finger's..." Dante paused for a moment snapping his own fingers for show.

"...he dropped dead. Then the system said like 46 million other people also died when he did that. Something about the "Halls of the Dead'' brimming with new bodies. What does that mean?" He asked, seeing an opportunity to acquire information he might not otherwise be able to get so easily.

The Headmaster on the other hand simply looked frozen in shock, his eyes wide and unfocused. As if he were a million miles away. Slowly the Headmaster leaned back in his chair and rubbed his well tanned face.

"This is why I sometimes hate new worlds. Especially new worlds with high populations!..." His voice trailing off as he seemed to begin doing math as blue boxes began to flash in and out of existence.

"A population of...damn it, 7.9 billion. Assuming everyone was forced into tutorial zones, that's roughly 790,000 zones. One Halls of the Dead dungeon per zone. Divide the number of souls by the number of zones and we have...We're so fucked...58 thousand souls per dungeon." The Headmaster stated as he held his palm to his face.

"The Halls of the Dead is a dungeon?" Dante asked, growing concerned by the Headmaster's words.

"Yes and no. It is a term used for a special kind of dungeon made by the system. When it slew all of those people on your world, their souls had to go somewhere. So the system funneled them as evenly as possible into Halls of the Dead. What privilege they were denied in life they are granted in death. Not players, but monster's...Most become undead of some kind, many of the weaker souls banding together to survive only to become something worse..." The Headmaster paused worry painted across his face.

Dante thought for a moment through the silence and then he realized what the Headmaster meant.

"My name is Legion, for we are many." He said simply as the color was draining from his face.

"An apt phrase for how screwed we are...Have the churches been notified? We must act now to reduce their number!" The Headmaster exclaimed as he turned towards the system rep.

"The necessary individual's have already been informed. Raids against the Halls will begin tomorrow with a minimum level requirement of 50 to participate for all parties. The system cannot allow such new players to be thrown into a...Oh, what's the Earth term...Meat grinder." The system rep said while its voice remained calm and even.

"What are you going to do sir?" Dante asked the Headmaster directly.

"Do? I am going to be training as many wizards as I can! Gods know we're going to need them against those monsters!" The Headmaster exclaimed and silence reigned for a moment before he took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

Reaching down the Headmaster opened a drawer of his desk pulling out a palm sized, flat, slightly glowing green stone before placing it on the desk and closing the drawer.

"This is a truthstone, I will now demonstrate it with 1 truth and a lie. I hate magic." He said, causing the stone to glow a bright red.

"The sky of this place is a lie." He said, causing the stone to turn green once more.

Dante couldn't help but smile at that phrase, it reminded him too much of something else.

"Why are you smiling?" asked the Headmaster, looking none too pleased.

"I'm sorry, I know this is serious but that reminds me of the phrase, "The cake is a lie." he said, his smile quickly fading.

The Headmaster leaned forward once more, clasping his hands together on his desk.

"It's a reference to a game that, now that I think about it, could probably help me raise my Intellect, maybe even my wisdom as well." He said, allowing his thoughts to slip through on accident.

The Headmaster looked angered for a moment before his expression softened and a small twinkle could be seen in his eyes.

"What game? What is its premise?" The Headmaster asked curious for something new to try and stimulate growth in his stats.

"It's kind of a 3D puzzle game where you must complete challenges using a portal gun. An item that can create gate-like doorways..." Dante stopped as the Headmaster interrupted.

"You know of gate magic? How is this game played without magic? I thought there was little to no magic in your world before the system came."The Headmaster questioned him.

"Yes and no. There might have been magic, some people thought so but if there was, there was very little of it, it was hard to use, hard to get, and so on. Mostly restricted to divine magics, pacts with demons, devils and such, and then druidic magic. Most people didn't really believe in magic but many loved the idea of it and wished it was real and so they created the kind of magic they wanted to show others."

---------

They spoke for a moment on video games and technology towards the limit of what this elder archmage could wrap his head around.

Terms needing to be simplified.

Items given magical equivalents.

---------

"So could you show me this, vid..eo game in the system store?" The Headmaster asked curious about this new thing, and trying to distract himself from the uncomfortable information he had received earlier in the conversation.

"Well, I can apparently buy D&D spells in the system store. I don't see why I wouldn't be able to buy games. Let's check." Dante wondered how it would work.

'Will it download the game onto my brain or give me a physical copy?' He pondered in his mind whilst he searched.

It took only a moment to find Portal 1 and 2.

After showing the Headmaster the trailer for the first game he seemed rather excited by the prospect of playing it.

So with a little aid from the Headmaster Dante figured out how to forward system store items to other people.

+50 exp...

Earning 50 exp in the process was just icing on the cake.

'I should probably recommend this to Kander later. Might help her.' He thought for a moment.

The Headmaster flicked his fingers in the air before his eyes flashing gold for a moment.

"So do you have the game? How are you going to play it?" Dante asked.

With a snap of his fingers a large blue box appeared before the Headmaster.

The blue box was about a foot tall by 2 feet wide.

The Headmaster turned the blue screen that hung in the air to reveal the main menu of Portal 1.

"How do I...Ah that's how." The Headmaster said as he made an expanding motion with his hands causing the blue screen to increase to the size of a flat screen tv.

"I guess that's how it works...Does that cost mana?" Dante asked.

The man inspected his status for a moment before noticing a considerable drain on his mana.

"It seems to be costing me...%&^*&%*% 5 mana a second to run this! If this game takes a while, I may level just from playing it." the Headmaster said laughing a bit in amusement at the notion.

Some quick mental math told Dante 5 mana a second meant it cost 300 mana a minute to play the game. He wouldn't even be able to play it for five minutes at that cost.

'Though the cost might be due to how large he made the screen...' he pondered for a moment, 'I'll test that out later. If it's true I might be able to grind for a bit of experience that way.

"Don’t forget, you should get portal 2 later if you enjoy the first one. Also you can replay the game, or even individual sections if you so choose. People in my world made a sport of completing games as fast as possible, it's called ‘speedrunning.’" Dante mentioned in hopes of working his way into the Headmaster's good graces.

The Headmaster turned abruptly to Dante at his mention of a sequel to Portal which he immediately looked through the store for and bought it.

'Ok then...' He thought before he realized something

"Wait a minute, we’ve gotten off topic. What did you mean by 'leave it to the system' earlier?" Dante asked his worry, suddenly flaring once more.

This time it was the system rep who spoke after having remained quiet throughout his conversation with the Headmaster.

"In a similar way as the system slew those people it can edit small bits of people's memories to prevent unfavorable situations from occurring. It isn't something we use lightly." It stated, a twinge of anger in its voice. A moment later, "Yes I'm angry as you are both wasting time!" It said dropping its act of professionalism for a moment.

"Ok...What about my parents?" Dante asked worriedly.

"They have already been sworn to keep the secret, they were informed of the stakes and informed as to their options. They chose to remember, and to keep the secret. It's good that you had the sense to have that sound barrier put in place before you started explaining things to them, otherwise the system would have had to wipe memories from more than a dozen people. Though the system had to edit what was seen by 7 individuals downstairs who saw the orb turn red. Now just fucking explain it to him!" Yelled the system rep, clearly not happy with things taking so long.

------------------------------------

So for the next several minutes he explained to the headmaster how he had come to meet the Crimson king.

How he had taken his stuff and nearly been taken over by the king's skill.

That the king trying to possess him had led to his obtaining blood affinity.

What truly shocked him was when he claimed the Crimson King was trapped in a gemstone he had in his inventory.

The stone never once wavered from green.

That's what unnerved the Headmaster.

----------------------

"His low affinity is consistent with a low level of mana corruption. As for the orb you feed corrupted mana into..." It paused for a moment and with a wave of its hand the mana measurement orb appeared from its inventory. Held aloft by some force.

The system rep pointed at the orb for a long moment while looking sternly at Dante, giving the impression of a glare.

Then it said,"Disintegrate."

A black beam leapt from his finger colliding with the orb which turned to dust before his eyes.

"Don't give the system a reason to have you killed. Our Threat Assessment programs say it's most prudent to have you and the king obliterated at once to prevent future problems. It was only through the mandatory consultation with higher ranking administrators, due to the presence of the Crimson King, that the current plan was devised and put into place. So, count your lucky stars boy!" The rep said his voice strained in anger.

+1 Luck!...

Turning to the Headmaster for a moment he spoke again, calmly this time.

"As for a replacement of the orb, one has already arrived and been put in place." said the system rep

"Thank you." said the Headmaster.

"You said he's in your inventory?" questioned the Headmaster as he turned to Dante.

"Yes. Rather frustrating though, because I don't want to put anything in there otherwise his mana will probably corrupt it. I have an inventory I can't use! Wait a minute..."

+1 Wis....

"Have I been spreading the Crimson Kings mana around by interacting with people?" he asked, suddenly even more worried.

"No, your mana corruption isn't sufficient to spread it to others. You would have been stopped not long after you got out of your bed if that were the case. Also wise that you thought about your inventory, as for that issue it can be dealt with in a moment. So long as he's in your inventory it'll make it very difficult for many of his followers to pinpoint his location. The level restriction on this zone will also help to prevent large amounts of his higher level followers from getting to you. Which is very good." Said the system rep.

"Yeah, I was hoping something along those lines when the system said they were hunting me!" Dante retorted whilst crossing his arms.

"It should take them weeks of time relative to us for them to arrive here. By that time you will likely have gone back to your world or moved on to the next zone. Any comments?" the Headmaster stated to the system rep.

"By our calculations, it will take 2 and a half weeks before the first of his followers with a sufficiently low level to enter this zone arrive. That is when we will strike."

"Strike?"

"Yes, strike! Those who need to know are being informed as we speak. With the Halls of the Dead brimming it's actually most fortuitous. This will allow those of higher level to grind experience that they shall be better prepared for the oncoming storm. We will bring as many of his follower's here as we can, so we can kill as many of them as we can in one fell swoop. Ending the king and a portion of his following at the same time. This is the plan set forth by the Administrators. The plan that says you get to live..." The system rep stated his none too subtle threat.

"What do you want me to do with the damn marble in the meantime?" Dante asked plainly not very much appreciating how hostile the system rep had become towards him.

The system rep looked at Dante and he felt something shift within him.

'Oh shit! Is he going to kill me now?' He thought before 2 notices appeared.

1/64th of your inventory has been partitioned to act as the Crimson King's prison...

Inventory size has decreased slightly...

"I suggest you grind your ass off, to use one of your terms. Unless of course you want to die in 2 and a half weeks!" said the system rep.

Dante opened his inventory and saw it was empty.

"So you cut a bit of space out of my inventory and used that as the prison to house him?" he asked calmly.

"Correct, you will only be able to access it once the time is right and we are ready to spring our trap." said the system rep, its voice becoming calm once more.

"At least I don't have to worry about shit getting mana corrupted in my inventory anymore." Dante said, trying to stay upbeat.

"You're required to visit a church within the day to have the remnants of the Crimson Kings mana scrubbed from you." it said making a motion causing a blue box to appear.

6 hours: 34 minutes: 12 seconds

"Ooo, a countdown. Of course I'll go...Is it going to hurt?

"It will be much like mana exhaustion." the system rep said its face betraying nothing.

The Headmaster tensed for a moment but it went unnoticed by Dante.

"Eh, I can deal with that. Alright, I'm going to visit one of the shopkeepers in town before I do that, is that fine?" Dante asked the system rep.

"You need simply have it done by the end of the day. Or should I say sundown." said the system rep

"Very well is that everything? May I go now?" asked Dante.

"Just a moment Dante. I have a personal request of you." spoke the Headmaster peaking Dante's attention.

"What might that be?" He asked whilst sitting back down in his chair.

"I wish to be able to inspect the crown upon your head. I would offer you a sum of 500 large gold pieces for that opportunity." The Headmaster spoke and with a wave of his hand a large sack of what sounded like jingling coins ploped down on his desk.

After a moment of contemplation and conversing with the crown he came to his decision.

He reverted the crown to its normal form and flowly removed it from his head placing it upon the table but without letting it go.

He considered telling the Headmaster that he knew he was being ripped off but would take the money anyway. That just seemed too likely to sour the relationship he had already managed to build with the man.

"As I see little harm in such a request I will accept your offer..." Dante paused as he saw the Headmasters face brighten

"...however. As you can imagine I'm hesitant to hand the crown over. No I don't want more money. I want assurance from one of you that I will get the crown back when the Headmaster here is done with his inspection. Also the inspection can't last more than an hour and a half. I kinda have a deadline to meet." He said whilst looking towards the system rep.

The Headmaster to his surprise held out a hand for him to take and so, after a moment, he did.

"I Fredrick Theodore Barnabus Endril the 4th do solemly swear upon the system to abide by the rules you have set forth."

A Binding Oath has been made to you! Do you wish to accept?

Dante looked to the system rep still standing off to the side looking all creepy in its buisness suit.

"It's binding." It stated simply, its arms folded across its chest.

"Then I accept your oath....huh, I expected some notices to come out of that."

The Headmaster smiled for a moment as he set the large sack of coins down upon Dante's side of the desk.

"Fortunately not everything gives you a notice from the system." the Headmaster stated while holding out a now gloved hand.

Carefully with both hands Dante handed the crown over to the Headmaster.

Dante touched the sack of coins with his hands and was happy to see the notice.

+500 large gold pieces...

The Headmaster slowly turned the crown giving it a once over before he pulled out a Jeweler's monocle and began to inspect the gems that adorned the sides of the crown.

"Are you a Jeweler?" Dante asked, wanting a bit more information.

"I have some levels in the Jeweler’s class and its skills. It is common for wizards to pick up skills and levels in several of the crafting professions as they help us to reduce the cost of our arcane studies. Jeweler, Tailor, Blacksmith, Scribe. Rather catchy isn't it? Wizards can use all of these classes in their daily lives. It is certainly cheaper than buying everything as a finished product let me tell you." He paused his work for a moment as if considering something then he started moving again.

The headmaster placed the crown back on the table for a moment and stood displaying his intricately detailed spellcaster's robes. Upon it were constellations, a set of dual suns and 3 moons. It had both gold an silver trimming.

"I made these myself. Cost me less than half it would have if I had someone else make it. Then there is the matter of the small buff the system gives you for wielding your own crafted items." The Headmaster looked happy with himself as he sat down, about to resume his inspection.

"That thing you said..." Dante said pausing as the Headmaster looked up from the crown.

"Jeweler, Tailor, Blacksmith, Scribe. It's not as catchy as in my language. Something more pleasing to the ear in my language would be, Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor." Dante said smiling a bit, enjoying the back and forth with the elder archmage.

The Headmaster too smiled for a moment.

"Ah, I often forget those I am speaking too are more often then not, speaking entirely different languages. One flaw of the system is those little joys of a language that are lost in translation." the Headmaster said with an expression of mild discontent.

"Quite... As you were." Dante said allowing the Headmaster to return to his inspection of the crown.

After about half an hour of conversation mixed with inspection of the crown and the several other items he had received from the Crimson King, including the robe, he was allowed to leave with the items.

They told him that he may resume his work here after his body was cleansed of the Crimson Kings mana.

So he left the Headmaster's office to go find Califa, but failed to notice the sound barrier still remained.

----------------------------------

"You lied to him." the Headmaster stated plainly.

"Of course I did! Do you think he would go if I told him it would be excruciatingly painful, and that he might not survive the process?" said the system rep.

The headmaster was silent for a moment before looking at the games he had bought on the boys, no, Dante's recommendation.

"I hope for his sake and for the sake of the furtherment of our pursuit of knowledge, that he survives the process... Another thing, the robe he was wearing." The Headmaster stated.

"The Robe of Everlasting Life? Yes, what about it?"

"Shouldn't it reek of the Crimson King's mana due to the amount of time he had it, and yet it doesn't. I couldn't detect a single trace of any of his mana coming from it. Only from Dante. I'm unfamiliar with many life-extending magics but that robe..." the headmaster said, pausing for a moment.

"It's something else...."

--------------

Dante walked casually down the stairs going to find Califa before he left for Oscar's.

Little did he know that for, but a brief moment, the golden embroidery above his heart glowed.

The embroidered human heart clutched by a skeletal hand made from woven gold.

For a moment, it glowed with a dull golden light.