The silence was like an agonizing sentence in Dante's ears. He couldn't see the difference between silence and death; it was something he could barely differentiate, after all...
He had already died.
His moments before death didn't make sense, his reincarnation didn't make sense, his life didn't make sense.
Everything for him made no sense.
He felt like he was part of a cruel joke, made by an insane god who thought it was a good idea to do this.
He would love for the System screen to appear, saying [Great Sage Equal to Heaven is observing you] or any cliché thing he had thought of. That would make him feel less overwhelmed with his current world.
But his reality wasn't like that; on the contrary, it was cruel.
"What a headache."
His thoughts could consume him, and his mind could fall into Limbo at any moment, but he didn't want that right now. He needed to continue.
Thirteen years of growing up and learning about this world; he could keep going. In fact, he couldn't give up. He decided to erase his past and be only Dante Scarlet, the adopted son of Valentina Scarlet, husband of Morgana Arcano, and bearer of Excalibur. And for him, that was enough.
The empty hallways left a bitter taste for Dante, who just walked aimlessly, as if he were lost and without a path.
His eyes were those of someone who had mildly died or gone through trauma. They were cold and intimidating; his black hair covered much of his face.
A strange feeling filled him when he was in this state, a kind of déjà vu, he felt familiar with these moments, but couldn't remember.
"Damn it," Dante commented as he arrived at the next teacher's class. It was a special class out of the ordinary; it wasn't a simple subject.
Studies on Poisons [Nagasawa Yamata]
He read the sign faintly but didn't immediately muster the courage to open the door. He placed his hand on it but didn't open it.
"Come in," he heard, without even saying anything. He looked at the dark door from which a faint green smoke emanated.
'Here we go,' Dante commented as he pushed the handle and entered the room.
He observed the scene and saw more than fifteen students asleep on the floor. He identified only those who remained alive as he put his hand on his face, pretending to be trying to avoid the poisonous gas.
Ethan, Elizabeth, Sara, Clovis, Akika, and two more students were conscious but clearly struggling.
"Another crazy one," Dante commented aloud. He let his thoughts escape slightly as a woman began to form from the Green Mist.
"Crazy?" she said.
Brr!
Dante's entire body shivered with a spine-chilling cold. When he turned around, a beautiful MILF stood with crossed arms, looking directly into his eyes.
She wore tight black leather clothes with openings in specific places, her skin tan like chocolate, and her eyes green like two emeralds. Her eyes were terrifying compared to Professor Linnea's.
"Let's see. Vortex, Arton, Smith, and Tapes. You are disappointments; your parents didn't teach you about the poisonous arts, did they? It was supposed to be normal for you, a simple poison like this," she said, glancing at Dante. "You remain unaffected; it seems we have someone who underwent good training, Rider," she said.
"Yes, Professor. My dad is a sick guy. Now get rid of this strange gas; it'll end up killing those foolish kids," Dante replied as he sat in an empty chair, noticing that Sara was already accompanied.
A few minutes passed, and the green gas disappeared completely. Now, Professor Nagasawa was sitting on the table, looking at the students with a disappointed gaze.
"You are all too weak," she commented while placing her hand over her eyes, covering them completely.
Dante had disconnected slightly from reality and no longer cared about the boring class in front of him. In fact, he would prefer not to be there, coming only out of obligation, because if it were optional, none of this would have happened.
He lowered his head slightly. He was in a reasonably distant position from the teacher, so he could rest his mind and pretend to be watching the class.
He remained quiet for a long time.
Time passed, and he fell asleep.
SMACK
He received a slap on the head that made him wake up immediately on guard, quickly looking up.
He saw the Milf from earlier looking directly into his eyes, and he felt a snake entwining and squeezing him tightly.
"You know, I think sometimes killing one or two shouldn't be a problem..." she said, and the entire room filled with poison. This time, everyone put their hands over their faces to avoid inhaling the toxic gas.
"First, you arrive late, then you question my lesson by stopping the gas because they were going to die, and now you sleep in my class. Dante Rider... Do you want to die?" She said, and the whole room went cold.
The green poison began to change to something black, resembling the very call of death, and Dante froze in fear, a lot of fear. A sword appeared on Nagasawa's back.
She took the sword, started bathing it with the black mist, and placed it on Dante's shoulder, pointing slightly to his throat.
"Do you want to die?"
She said very slowly, and Dante was paralyzed for the first time, a sensation he had already experienced during training with his mother.
He had no words.
Even the students started to wonder in whispers if she was really going to do it, but they didn't dare to ask.
TRIINNN
The bell rang, it was lunchtime.
"You saved yourself for today, boy. This is the last time." She said and withdrew her sword, instructing everyone to leave.
'Crazy old woman,' Dante thought while still sitting, watching everyone leaving.
"Looks like you're having a tough day." He heard a voice coming from beside him. It was the person he shared the table with in this class.
He turned and saw a dwarf; he had orange-red hair and a sturdy build, though not as robust as that of a fighter. This was the son of the Dwarf King.
"You bet," he said with a scowl on his face, and Clovis stayed quiet, just getting up. "I get it, mine isn't any different," he said, lifting the sleeve of his shirt slightly, revealing a bruised purple mark.
Dante stayed quiet. He got hurt too, but he wouldn't be left with marks, even if he wanted to. His regeneration was absurdly stronger than most people, mainly due to the passive of the holy power of the hero and his unique lineage from Caim. However, others were not the same, and bullying would never be less painful just because it wasn't physical pain, but psychological.
"I'm sure you can defend yourself, Prince," Dante commented as he looked at him.
"I don't want to cause trouble. These people have their ways of ending a life with just words; you know that. The whole school is already talking about your fight in just two breaks," he replied, walking away.
Dante felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He followed the boy, walking side by side with him. Clovis slightly raised his eyebrows as Dante walked with his hands in his pockets beside him, but he ignored it and gave a faint smile.
"Looks like I made a friend," Dante thought.
Meanwhile, Dante was almost breaking his mind and screaming to the world who he was.
"I don't give a damn about this crappy identity."