Dante brought out the Brazier and set it on the floor, but before he put the materials in it he realized something.

"Shit I forgot about the smoke. I gotta do this outside. Glad I remembered that before I started. I suppose I could go take this by the city wall. Maybe see if I can get lucky and find some of those guards I met yesterday. Get them to watch over me while I cast the spell." He said as he touched the brazier and replaced it in his inventory.

Out the door and down the stairs he went when an idea struck him.

"Hey system, how much does it take to buy a tattoo from you?" he asked aloud.

Please be more specific...

"How much will it cost me to get some tattoos on my arms?" He responded.

Do you have a design in mind?...

"Yes. I want Scar's tattoos from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood." He replied, awaiting the system's response.

Calculating response...

That choice is acceptable...

Do you wish for the Deluxe package over standard?...

"What makes deluxe better?" He asked.

Deluxe package constitutes a delivery of reusable nanobots into your body which can create almost any design you could want. Grow tired of one, the nanites can change it to something else for you...

Nanites are powered by mana and thus consume a small amount of mana to function, even when idle. To perform their function takes even more....

Standard is single use nanobots that create the desired design and then expire...

Would you like to hear additional options?..

"Not at this time, thank you. Just those tattoos for now thanks. How much will it cost me?

1000 small pieces of gold. Would you like to purchase the Standard package? Y/N?...

"Fuck, I thought it was going to be 5 to 10 times that much. Yes, I'll buy it." He replied.

Thank you for your purchase!...

Purchased item has been added to your inventory...

Dante opened his inventory. A blue box appeared that then seemed to fall into itself forming the familiar cubic space of his inventory.

There in the small box he saw what seemed to be a small injector that looked like a silver epipen. Pulling it out he turned it over in his hands a few times, examining it.

"Do I just stab myself with this or something?" He asked as he wasn’t too familiar with items such as this.

Press the end of the cylinder to your thigh and then press the button on the opposite end...

Once you do you will experience a small drain on your mana until the nanites complete their work...

'Alright then I suppose.' Dante thought as he did what the system instructed. Much to his surprise the shot was rather painless.

-100 mp/m for 1 hour...

"Well shit! I get Exp for this right?" He asked.

+100 exp per minute for the duration...

"Ok then. Now what do I do with this?" He asked the system referencing the device he had used to administer the nanites.

System will pay 50 small gold for the return of said item for recycling...

"...Sure. Let's do that." No sooner had he said it than the small silver injector disappeared from his grasp.

+50 small gold...

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

After about half an hour of walking and getting direction from guards later he stood before the guard house.

Stepping in he found a rustic looking. Stone tile flooring, stone block walls. There was wooden furniture scattered around the room.

Chairs with cushions, small tables with reading materials. Even a reception desk with a bell.

The entire place was built into the city walls.

Stepping up to the counter he rang a small bell and a middle aged man came out from a door behind the reception desk. He was a large man. Bald on his head, but sporting a full beard on a pudgy face. Seeming more fit to be a smith than a receptionist.

"Hello good sir, what can I do for you?" Asked the receptionist.

"Hi, I'm Dante. I am looking for Captain Oswald. I...I...want to ask a favor of him." replied Dante.

It took him only a moment to realize he had been running up against his lady's divine rule that said he couldn't lie.

Inadvertently, of course.

"Can you tell me the nature of the request?" asked the large man.

"I'm going to ask him if he could get a few guards to watch over me while I do a ritual. It's for a spell I just picked up at the Mages guild. It takes about an hour to cast. It also requires burning material components in a brazier so I can't do it inside a building. I just wanted a few people to watch over me so no one comes up and wrecks the ritual while I'm doing it." He explained with detail.

"Very well I will see where he is currently and get back to you in a...What do you know, there he is." said the receptionist as he pointed towards the door behind Dante.

Turning around the familiar figure of Oswald stepping through the door.

"Ah, Dante was it? How are you." Asked Oswald with a smile.

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

10 minutes later and Dante was standing outside on a large stone slab next to the wall. Off to the side were what appeared to be training dummies.

Each one though seemed to project an image over itself. Of the five, four appeared as vague humanoids. Each appeared as a different race.

One was a human man, another appeared to be an orc, there was an elf, and something that appeared to be a goblin with its large ears.

Appearing floppy, and kind of like a cow's ears.

The fifth that stood in the middle was the largest. It appeared more like a giant than a humanoid. It stood no less than 2 feet above the others in his estimate.

Dante had thanked the three guards that Oswald had brought to help him out. It was a shame however that Oswald himself couldn't stay.

They waved to each other as Oswald departed with a group of guards going out on patrol.

Turning to his temporary guardians, Dante spoke.

"You guys mind if I work on my status for a minute before I begin the ritual?" He asked.

"Nope." said the first human man.

"No." said the elven woman.

"Go for it. It gives me a bit of time to grind meditation." Said the second human man as he sat down on a wooden bench nearby.

"That's not a bad idea. I'll train for it as well." Dante said aloud as he flicked on Meditation.

When he did so he began to feel something new. It was like the boundaries between himself and the world were beginning to thin.

He could feel the world slowly seeping into him.

Slowly he felt the progression of the skill, but he wasn't frustrated with it's speed.

No, in his mind he loved this feeling. Dante stood feeling the artificial sunlight on his skin even as the sun was only about an hour from the horizon.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then let it out.

Meditation has leveled up! Lvl. 6...

Opening his eyes again he began a little bit of this and that before he conducted the ritual.

"I'm going to test out some spell's I learned if that's alright?" He asked the guard who quickly said it was fine.

Smiling Dante pointed a finger gun towards the largest testing dummy.

"Magic Missile!" He proclaimed as he brought down the hammer of the finger gun, his thumb.

Three small bolts of force leapt from his finger tip crossing the distance to the dummy in a second.

But what surprised him was that the bolts instead of striking the dummies beneath vaguely humanoid images, struck the image of the giant.

"Neat spell but you seem a bit shocked." Spoke the elven woman.

Turning to her and the other guards who were all sitting on the wooden bench watching him he replied.

"Yeah...I thought it would hit the dummy, not the image." Replied Dante.

"Ah, I suppose you've never seen these before then. To put it simply the dummies are warded so we don't have to constantly replace them. The wards are shaped like that to give you a feel for striking other players. As sad as it may be, more often than not, the biggest threat to a player is other player's." She said while shaking her head.

He simply nodded, 'It makes sense.' He thought before he turned back to the largest dummy.

This time he raised up two hands. 'If I fire twice more I should have about enough experience to level up again either a little before or when this hour long mana expense is up. Man, 4 levels in one day. That's not bad.' He thought with a smile before he fired off two more castings of magic missile in rapid succession against the ward of the giant testing dummy.

The ward changed colors from blue to slightly purple before returning to blue.

'It shows roughly how much damage you're doing, cool.' His thoughts continued before he spoke.

"Status."

Dante A. Stone

Race: Human

Class: Cleric (B,L)

LVl. 31

EXP: 404/6,300

Gold: 962.2 Large gold

Stats

Resources

Total

Regen.

Strength 90

Health

3,494

(123x2=246/min)

Constitution/Vitality 120

Mana

4,629

(155.2/min)

Endurance 99

Stamina

2,780

(119.5x2=239/min)

Dexterity 77

Road Points

36

Willpower 116

Stat Points

10

Intellect 99 Luck 82 Wisdom 143 Perception 76 Charisma 89 Spirit 135

"Yep...Int and End to 100." he said as he spent one point and then another.

Congratulations your END has reached 100!...

Recalculating...

You possess the Crystal of Health...

Recalculating...

You are awarded the Rare passive skill, Crystal of Stamina...

Crystal of Stamina- A skill that protects the user from the effects of overexposure to the Stamina resource. Increased resistance to Stamina poisoning per level of the skill. Increased stamina and stamina regen per level of the skill...

You have discovered 2 of 3 parts to the Player Resources skill set!...

Congratulations! Your INT has reached 100!...

Recalculating...

You possess the Crystals of Health and Stamina...

Recalculating...

You are awarded the Rare passive skill, Crystal of Mana...

Crystal of Mana- A skill that protects the user from the effects of overexposure to the Mana resource. Increased resistance to Mana poisoning per level of the skill. Increased resistance to mana corruption per level of the skill. Increased Mana and mana regen per level of the skill...

You have completed the Player Resource skill set!...

+3000 EXP!...

You have leveled up!...

You have gained a level in the Rare class, Artificer!...

The Artificer's Road has opened to you!...

"That was unexpected..." He said as he looked upon his new class.

'Though in hindsight powering nanites with magic would certainly make sense for an artificer.' He thought.

"I can probably make it to 5 or maybe even 6 level ups today if I push it!" Dante exclaimed in a small but excited voice as he mused happily to himself while rubbing his chin.

"Roads." he said ready to get all distractions out of the way for what he was about to attempt.

Road of Blood

0/25

Road of Earth III

0/50

Road of Water II

0/25

Road of Family

0/100

Road of the Unyielding Will

0/50

Road to Everlasting Life

0/1,000

Road of Courage II

0/50

Road of the Tireless I

0/50

Road of Radiance I

0/50

Road of Light II

0/50

Wizard's Road III

0/50

Artificer's Road

0/50

Teacher's Road

0/25

"Now is the time..." Dante said as he put the 25 points needed into the Road of Blood.

To his amazement he heard the voice of his lady speaking the lines. His feet began to move even as he remained standing still. A wall of text was upon him as he felt himself thrown into a maelstrom.

You are not a man of violence who sheds blood needlessly. +4 Wis...

That's not to stay, you will stand idle while others threaten who and what you love. +3 Con and End...

You treasure your family and your friends. God's help those who threaten them. +5 Spirit...

So long as you remain in my favor, you and I have all the time in the world. +5 Con...

You're my first follower upon this world. My first Bishop... No, my first High Priest upon this world and I would have it no other way!...

Recalculating title...

Congratulations! Your title, Bishop of Rosana has become, High Priest of Rosana!...

High Priest of Rosana- You are granted the privilege and duty to establish churches in my name, the name of Rosana. You are a High Priest, of the goddess of Life and Blood, Rosana. For your faith you lose the power to lie, for your goddess disallows such things. But for what you lose you gain so much more....

You're a step above the common worshipers, and thus your class changes to match your position!...

Your Cleric class is evolving!...

Congratulations! Your Uncommon class, Cleric, has evolved to become the Rare class, High Priest!...

Class bonus' will take place retroactively...

Your affinity for Blood has increased...

Congratulations! Your mana has surpassed 5000! You're awarded the Rare passive skill, Resistance to Magical Exhaustion Lvl. 1...

Congratulations! Your Strength has exceeded 100! You're granted the Common active skill, Power strike Lvl. 1...

Power strike- You concentrate your force into a powerful strike. Costs 100 stamina. Damage based on Str and Dex stat, in addition to level of the skill. Small increase to stamina per level of the skill..

Congratulations! Your Charisma has surpassed 100! Unfortunately there's no rew...

Error!...

Third party Divine Interference!...

You're granted the Rare semi-active skill, Speak with animals Lvl. 1...

Speak with animals- Your voice is such that even the simple minds of animals can understand you. Increased conveyance of information per level of the skill...

I'm still watching you Dante. You'll be needing this. Kisses!...

Recalculating...

You have met the requirements...

Recalculating...

You possess the Complete Player Resources skill set...

Your three highest stats are Con (150), Wis (166), and Spirit (165)...

You are one of my High Priests and so I grant you skills befitting one of them!...

You're granted the Very Rare semi-passive skill, Pool of Sacrifice...

Pool of Sacrifice- Blood, mana, and stamina mix in the Pool of Sacrifice. Your health, mana, and stamina are now bound together, allowing you to change one to another with similar but varying ratios! Your health, mana, and stamina increase by 100 points per skill level. Users may sacrifice resources directly to the pool via the Dagger of Sacrifice. Offering items and or materials to the pool can grant permanent bonus' dependent upon the item. Can act as a reservoir of resources for other skills.

You're granted the Rare, semi-active, sub-skill, Dagger of Sacrifice...

Dagger of Sacrifice- You summon a fine dagger, of mutable qualities, to your hand. Blood spilled by this dagger from living creatures, with blood, causes said blood to fill your Sacrificial pool. Damage increases with the level of the skill. Damage dealt to other creatures by this dagger, excluding the user, is spread between their health, mana, and stamina. Users may choose to exclude one or two of these from the effects of the dagger. Damage against unwilling targets, will be reduced if they possess skills that would normally reduce similar forms of damage. Skill requires no mana to maintain itself...

Congratulations! You have completed the Road of Blood I! The Road of Blood II has opened to you!...

Your affinity for Blood has increased...

Sorry about this. The system won't let me give you anymore because of how much you've gotten right now so that's the only completion bonus...

"Holy fuck..." Dante stood in disbelief barely able to say, "Status..."

Dante A. Stone

Race: Human

Class: Cleric (B,L)

LVl. 32

EXP: 4,864/6,500

Gold: 962.2 Large gold

Stats

Resources

Total

Regen.

Strength 102

Health

4,233

(123x2=309.6/min)

Constitution/Vitality 150

Mana

5,521

(202.7/min)

Endurance 117

Stamina

3,489

(119.5x2=302.6/min)

Dexterity 82

Road Points

18

Willpower 125

Stat Points

33

Intellect 112 Luck 90 Wisdom 166 Perception 85 Charisma 103 Spirit 165

"Holy shit...well that's a whole lot...in less than a minute..."Dante mumbled to himself in shock, unable to believe all that had just happened.

Slowly his senses began to return as he rubbed his chin.

"I feel very lucky now. So...let's just get Luck to 100 and...just call it there. I'll hold onto the rest of the stat points till tomorrow when hopefully not so much is going on." He said as he input the 10 stat points.

Congratulations! Your Luck has reached 100!...

Lady Luck smiles upon you Dante...

"Oh boy, I love vague and non helpful notices...Well I guess I can still use sarcasm. That's good to know." he said as he told the people who were guarding him that he was going to start the ritual now.

The guard had a few laughs while watching and discussing the man they had been ordered to guard until his task was done.

Things we're certainly interesting with this guy.

'But why does he feel different all of the sudden? Did he rank up or something?' Questioned the second male guard.

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

Spell slots converted to mana To facilitate upcasting one need only expend additional mana until the mana expended equals the minimum required for the desired level. 1st level: 1-100 2nd level: 101-200 3rd level: 201-400 4th level: 401-800 5th level: 801-1,600 6th level: 1,601-3,200 7th level: 3,201-6,400 8th level: 6,401-12,800 9th level: 12,801-25,600

Find Familiar, 1st level

You conduct an hour long ritual to gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose. Said spirit becomes bound to you at the completion of the spell. The chosen creature's size can be no greater than small. If you choose a creature with supernatural abilities, an example being truesight, your familiar assumes the form but does not gain said abilities. The familiar appears in an unoccupied space within range.

The familiar's statistics are of the chosen form, though it is a Celestial, Fey, Undead, Warforged, Ooze, or Fiend (your choice) instead of its normal type. However the familiar's stats will be modified by the caster's own stats. For example, if your familiar has an INT less than your own it becomes equal to your own, and it gains the ability to understand one language of your choice that you speak.

Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. The familiar can attack only in ways its form allows. The familiars Hp is equal to your maximum mana capacity. When the familiar drops to 0 Hit Points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. While technically dead, the familiar inhabits their master's soul space. Slain familiars can be resummoned by recasting this spell, in which case it will only take 10 minutes to cast. Dismissed familiars can be brought back for free at will.

While your familiar is within (INTx10) feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically as if you had telepathy. If you possess telepathy this range becomes, (INTx50).

Additionally, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears, gaining the benefits of any Special Senses that the familiar has, such as an owl's hearing or a cat's night vision. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own Senses.

You can temporarily dismiss your familiar if you so choose to. It disappears into your soul space where it awaits your summons. Alternatively, you can dismiss it forever ending the pact. While it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any sufficiently sized space within 30 feet of you.

You can have more than one familiar at a time, But only 1 per 100 points of Spirit. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead can cause it to adopt a new form. Finally, when you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must be within, (INTx5), feet of you, and it must focus its attention to deliver the spell when you cast it.

Initial cast time: 1 hour. Material Components: 10 Small gp worth of charcoal, incense, and herbs that must be consumed by fire in a brass brazier for the initial casting. Mana cost: 1000 mana initial casting. 250 mana for reforming familiar's coporeal form and 10 minutes to cast. 100 mana to change familiar's form and 1 minute to cast.

All castings require an appropriate amount of the proper materials burnt in a bronze brazier to cast.

He had learned a lot since he became a Cleric, even more since he became a Wizard.

Meditation has leveled up! Lvl. 7...

There were upsides to the revised spell, and down sides.

'Well... it appears I misremembered the wording of the spell. But I'm still going to try this. I still want to try.' He thought as he began the casting.

As he began he spoke the arcane words he had been taught by the system. Placed the charcoal, incense, and herms into the brazier and lit it with Prestidigitation.

The smoke lazily drifted in the light wind out over the town.

He watched as shapes began to dance in the flames. All seeming to be small creatures, many wondrous and strange.

What appeared to be a flying monkey, another was a cat with wings. He was tempted to try that, but he felt it was an unnecessary risk for something he already believed didn't have great odds of working.

He could always give the cat wings later anyway.

A small figure danced and raced through the flames seeming to be chasing a rabbit.

So it was that he made his choice.

"A celestial cat." He spoke simply, causing the small figure that chased the rabbit to cease. It looked up to him and slowly made its way over to the edge of the brazier, but couldn't seem to pass it.

Dante waved his hand over the flames getting burned for his action but managed to deposit the now rigid body of the cat into the flames.

The tiny cat made from flames turned to the new thing placed into its reach and bounded towards it.

40 minutes in and several hundred mana later some guy and his party walked up coming to check out the show.

The man appeared to be human and the leader of the party of 6. He had longer red hair that hung down in front of his face covering much of his eyes. He wore what appeared to be average brown leather armor and a pair of combat boots.

Those alone were a little interesting but otherwise unremarkable. The true interest lay in his companions.

The first thing Dante noticed was that they were all women.

That truly sparked his interest but he couldn't focus on it right now.

"Hey Dante this guys wants to stay and watch, are you alright with that?" Asked the elven female guard who seemed to be eyeing the man strangely. He had only seen that look in... 'NOPE I have to focus on the ritual!' He thought, shaking away his curiosity for a moment.

"Yeah it's fine." He replied.

"Thank you!" said the elven woman who smiled widely, not turning from the other man.

Taking a deep breath as the moment of truth was fast approaching he grasped the embroidered holy symbol on his chest and prayed to Rosana.

"Please let this work..."He asked honestly with a voice full of hope.

He felt his lady there with him for a moment, one hand upon his shoulder, the other stroking the small flaming cat. Its purrs sounding much like the crackling of the flames.

"I will do what I can...But Dante...You MUST be willing to give everything you can if you want this to work." Spoke Rosana in his ear.

"I will!" His response was immediate and without hesitation.

Burning Heart has leveled up! Lvl. 8...

The spell was nearing completion and he felt something running down his face.

Meditation has leveled up! Lvl. 8...

Rubbing it with the back of his hand, it came away bloody.

"I do suppose I'm trying to push this spell beyond what it's intended to do...But I won't give up now." He said as he activated blood absorption, his own blood fading from his hand and face.

He felt a connection form, but something didn't feel right...

He felt the spell complete but the dancing of the flames ceased. He tried to speak but his mouth wouldn't open.

Time sense has leveled up! Lvl. 3...

'Did time come to a halt? Did I do this?' He thought as he felt something new.

Darkness took his vision for but a moment before something new greeted his sight.

He felt the effect of Meditation break and the skill turned off.

He sat at the intersection of several biomes. All spread out like a wheel, or slices of a greater pie. Not that he particularly liked pie.

A woman stepped from a tree directly in front of him. Literally stepped out of the intact tree. Leaving no sign of her passage.

She stood what must have been 7 feet tall. He build athletic and toned. Her body was covered by rock and bark, and living flora. Her hair appeared to be messy vines. Her eyes were an ever shifting maelstrom of colors.

He could hardly tell what she looked like under all of it.

"Hello Dante, It's nice to meet you." She spoke in voice that was both young and OH SO OLD.

A voice that carried behind it the weight of ages.

"Are you a goddess? Who are you? I was just about to finish something." He wondered what had happened to the spell.

"Yes and no, you know my name already Dante..." she said, not eleberating what she meant.

He looked around and realized that there was a pattern to the biomes. To his left was a snowy place, in front of him were several green biomes, to his right was an ocean with waves that softly crashed upon a small beach.

Behind him were trees with leaves of oranges and browns. The colors of fall.

'These biomes are spread out like the seasons...'

"Your probably not Melora..." He paused as he weighed the goddesses he knew in his mind further.

The woman's smile waned for a moment at the mention of another's name but quickly recovered.

"...Are you Gaia?" asked Dante.

"Yes I am. I am so very happy to hear you say my name." The woman said as she seemed to merge with the land.

The mountains in the distance reshaped to form her face.

As that happened many small creatures filled the space around him. Everywhere he looked the ground was covered in countless cats.

"You must choose from among these. For the one you wish is unreachable to you." Spoke the mountain though its mouth didn't move.

"What do you mean? Is it because the cat's dead?" He asked as a bit of fear began to well up in his heart.

"No Dante. All these creatures before you are among the dead. The one you seek...Is beyond death. The man who killed the cat was a disciple of... a certain kind of Death. The Hungering kind. It's soul was sacrificed to and consumed by the Hungering Death. It's unreachable to you..." She spoke solemnly in the voice of his mother's, both of them.

---------

Jerald sat in his cell. His hands bound by arcane handcuffs that prevented him from using many of his skills.

But he was a follower of Death, and Death was ever patient.

He would find a way out, just as Death came inevitably for all things.

But death wasn't a kind master, no he was...

Death, the Hungering...

"Feed me more souls and I shall grant you even more power...The mightier they are, the more power I can grant you..."

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

"What?" Dante asked in shock.

"Forget the one that is unreachable. Reach out and take one so close at hand Dante. There are many here that would gladly let you take them as your familiar if you would only ask them." She spoke her voice once more old as time and ever young.

Dante stood...though he spoke not.

He put forth all his will into a single idea. To what Rosana had said this would take.

He felt something in his hands and looked down to see a beautiful bowl. It seemed to be made of multicolored glass, with no rhyme or reason to the pattern of the colors.

In that moment he knew it was his pool of sacrifice.

Multicolored liquids turned and mixed within the bowl as he knew what he had to do.

He raised the bowl to the sky with both hands and heard Rosana's voice asking him, "What will you give for this?"

"Everything!" he exclaimed as he felt the bowl growing heavier by the moment.

The world around him brightened as a large beam of colorful light poured forth from the bowl. The light casting long shadows upon the ground.

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

Alarms screamed as guards raced towards the large beam of light that was erupting from near the walls.

Patrons settling into their sets ready to have dinner ran outside trying to find the source of the light pouring through the windows.

The guards who had been tasked to guard Dante couldn't even get close to him.

He had fallen on his back and some bowl had appeared over the brazier only to start pouring out light like it was the end of days.

The red haired man stood firm though his heart trembled in fear. He would protect those behind him to the best of his ability.

All the women of his party hid behind him. But there was one in particular that seemed most scared.

The devil cowered behind her pact maker. Her yellow eyes locked upon something unseen by the other's.

A woman in prismatic robes, walking around the brazier, the ground glowing softly as she passed.

Then the goddess turned to her and the devil ran as she felt her feet burning on the ground beneath her.

Rosana smiled and whispered, "Not the best place for my first church on Earth, but we don't always get to choose these things." She said.

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

The force shoving Dante down grew ever greater. The force drove his feet into the ground and then his knees gave out.

As his knees impacted the ground it began to crack, but not as it should have.

No, it cracked like a mirror. Thus was the weight that he was forced to carry.

He felt as his health, mana, and stamina were rapidly being drained away from him.

Every last point passing through that bowl and adding to the light it emitted.

Breakthrough!...

Pool of sacrifice has leveled up! Lvl. 1->7...

You have leveled up! Lvl 32 -> 35!...

You're experiencing severe Health exhaustion...

You're experiencing severe Mana exhaustion...

You're experiencing severe Stamina exhaustion...

Breakthrough!...

Resistance to Mundane Exhaustion has leveled up! Lvl. 4 ->16...

Resistance to Magical Exhaustion has leveled up! Lvl. 1 ->8...

Estimated time to recovery, 5 days...

Like a shattering mirror, the cracks spiderwebbed outward.

Seeing this Dante looked up to Gaia for a moment only to see her smiling warmly.

"I knew you would make the right choice..." Spoke Gaia in the voice of his first mother, the one who was dead.

He heard those words before the ground shattered beneath him and he fell into darkness below.

Error!...

Soul has left system boundaries!...

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

The light from the bowl cut off as all the world faded away.

He was falling, no... floating somewhere.

The bowl was still with him, though it had hardly a drop in it now.

The world spun as he tried to get his bearings.

He looked all around him struggling with his fuzzy mind but there was nothing around him.

No ground, no sky. Then something moved in the dark.

The darkness stepped forth taking a form similar to that of a man, but featureless.

"Hello Dante...I know what you have come for. I know what you have endured. So take what you have come for..." spoke the strange figure.

The world seemed to shake for a second as little bits of light emerged from the body of the figure. The lights coalesing in its open hands forming, a cat.

The cat leapt from its grasp onto Dante's chest.

He felt its impact and then it sat there, looking at him.

Small tears rolling down its face.

"What should we name you then?" he asked with a pained chuckle as he reached up to pet the cat.

The cat moved forward and wrapped its front legs around his neck, hugging him.

'Tom...' Was the reply he received.

"Then your name will forever be Tom..." He spoke as he held the cat at that moment.

The Void felt something coming and so it waved its hand returning him to his proper place.

Recalculating...

Soul has returned to system boundaries...

You have incurred greater scrutiny from the system...

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

Death, the Hungering felt something taken from it.

Its stomach suddenly a little less full.

The energy was going somewhere...There!

Death leapt across the distance trying to catch the one who had taken its sustenance.

It arrived in a quiet place. There was nothing here save for one figure.

Death trembled as it experienced something for the first time, fear...

Its fears only grew worse as it felt itself be cut off from its follower's.

Death's form began to evaporate at the edges as it looked upon the black figure.

Its only response being to draw a smile upon the darkness that was its face.

Death raced from that place, for it knew to stay would mean its own end.