More than three weeks had passed, and the first month in Kryosis swept by for Dante like a chilly breeze atop a mountain.
He began to be the target of bullying after rumors about his fights with Sara and Alexander spread, inventions created only to tarnish his image.
The reality? Threatened children tend to use the worst methods to achieve their goals, especially boys, and in Alexander's case, he assumed he could do whatever he wanted without facing repercussions after the initial rumors spread.
During this time, Dante distanced himself from Sara, fearing that his problems would affect her, even though they managed to conceal the fact that they shared the dormitory quite well.
Sara was also feeling the pressure, as she started to come under scrutiny from others. Gossip and stories about her began to be fabricated, and she couldn't deal with it.
The problem with dealing with this kind of nonsense is that brute force alone doesn't help. Even if they use force, it could worsen the situation and sink both of their reputations.
Unfortunately, Dante chose to follow the lonely path, often sitting in distant places from the rest of the class, isolating himself and avoiding contact.
In a month, he had almost no friends. He broke his promise to Sara and abandoned her; they barely saw each other. How did this happen? Why weren't they meeting?
Dante entered the dorm when she was already asleep and left before she woke up.
A cold and solitary behavior. His dreams began to worsen the situation, his mentality had started to break slightly when this happened. He was in pieces and could no longer move forward without help. However, he also couldn't ask for it.
He thought about simply leaving the Academy. He was a Scarlet, so he could arrange something, but no. It would be a disgrace for him to bother Valentina with something at this level.
Was he truly alone? His answer never came because he never had time to think about it. He was a busy man and needed to study.
At this moment, he was heading to the "special class" that Professor Akemi had announced, a class that would allow students to learn about [Spiritual Invocation] or the [Familiar Contract].
Despite being alone, Dante managed to get Clovis's support to at least share the table, as Clovis's companion had other friends in the classroom. Upon entering the room, he felt numerous penetrating and mocking looks. He stayed quiet with his head down.
The stares were like spearheads piercing through his head, so he preferred to avoid such actions. Despite everything, he could kill everyone there, and he didn't want to lose control like his mother did. It was too much stress, and everything culminated in one thing: Weariness.
His physical and mental bodies were constantly under stress due to the damn dreams and the inhuman cruelty he was facing, and he had no choice but to accept it.
"Come on, everyone, it's time for my class!" The most enthusiastic teacher in this school appeared... Unfortunately for Dante.
'How I hate you, Akemi... I hate you so much.' Dante thought slowly as his monotonous eyes stared at her. He didn't hate her; in fact, she was quite cute.
"If you keep staring at her like that, she's going to come talk to you," Clovis commented as he lightly crossed his arms.
"She wouldn't dare do that," Dante replied, leaning back as he stretched.
"She would."
Dante fell silent. He knew Akemi was a cunning fox and would do anything to irritate him if necessary.
"Come on, I'll explain this." She pointed to a large blackboard with a six-layered magic circle.
"As you know, I'm not a 'Demi-Human,' I'm a Kitsune! A very rare magical beast!" She said while pointing to herself, puffing up her chest.
'Child in an adult's body,' Dante thought lightly as he watched the flamboyant fox strike poses and give exaggerated explanations about how good she was being herself.
'I'm going to kill myself.' That thought passed lightly through his mind.
"So, who's going to be the first?" She said as Dante looked at the center.
'What? Did she already explain?' He was startled, and when he looked at her, a slight smile was on her face, and Dante immediately involuntarily stood up. It was magic.
"Oh! Rider, very good. Come here! You'll be the first!" She said very excited.
Dante looked at everyone, who watched him with a shocked expression, as it was an involuntary move on his part.
"I refuse." Dante said and sat back down.
"Come on or you'll be beaten." She said in a cold tone, and he had no choice.
Dante stood up and walked towards the Sly Fox. Dante stayed quiet and just followed the instructions.
"Memorize the magic circle." She said, and Dante observed it until he could summon it.
"Done." It took less than 5 seconds.
"Eh? Are you sure?" She said in shock. 'What speed!'
"Yes, get on with it." Dante replied with a dead look.
"Memorize this now." She handed a paper with a kind of summoning chant to Dante, who just nodded.
Dante sighed slightly and looked at Akemi, who had a somewhat serious look at him, but he ignored it and began to recite.
"I am Dante, coming from the Vampire Kingdom, and I seek an equal contract with a Familiar Spirit from the Spirit Kingdom. I have no friends and am alone facing difficulties, I can only offer my companionship, I don't care about your conditions, as long as you don't betray me."
The magic circle began to spin slightly, and a portal opened...
But nothing came out of the portal...
And it closed.
'What a shame... he was honest, but he didn't convince any familiar from the Spirit Realm... or the realm refused to let him in?' Akemi thought as she saw the dark expression on the boy's face and looked at everyone else who was holding back laughter.
'I'm causing trouble for him...' Akemi thought, and Dante walked away without saying anything to her.
"You can try again, Dante!" Akemi tried to get his attention.
As he climbed the steps, he heard a faint laugh coming from a red-haired girl. Dante looked in her direction and noticed a resemblance to the Fairy Queen in the girl; in a month, he hadn't realized this until now.
She seemed like a simple human, but he felt something different.
"My mother ensured that you'll never be able to touch a spirit." This phrase came toward him as the girl smiled at him in a creepy way.
His fists clenched slightly, and within them, a black flame began to flicker. But he did nothing; he opened his hands and ignored the girl.
'Don't interfere, okay? Is this how you show your face, Fairy Queen?' Dante thought lightly as he sat back in his seat.
"What's that expression?" Clovis asked, seeing how disturbed Dante was. "It's nothing."
"The Supreme Fairy Bitch blocked my contact with the Spirit Realm because of her Deadbeat Daddy. That bitch over there is her daughter." Dante thought.
-- Etherion, Spirit Realm. Royal Castle.
"Give me a reason not to banish you from your Spirit Realm, Kazess." A man entirely black like the Abyss asked; he had a human silhouette and wore a suit, with only his mouth visible, the rest of his skin was pure black.
"I haven't done anything wrong, just denied entry to a brat to my realm," the man sitting on the throne said, looking at him.
"I see, you're sure, right?" He said as he turned and started walking lightly.
"What do you mean, Adm?" He questioned, but there was no answer.
"You denied entry to Dante Scarlet to the Spirit Realm in search of a familiar," the Administrator said and turned slightly, a smile appearing on his face.
"Yes, so what?" He questioned.
"First, you broke a special contract, second, you disrupted the balance, and third, you disobeyed the Abyss," he said.
"What contract did I break, Mr. Adm?" He asked curiously with a smile.
"Look for yourself, the only being you weren't supposed to break the contract with so irresponsibly just killed over a billion spirits. Are you happy? Now the Universal World Tree will have double the work to bring those spirits back. Guess who's to blame?" He said with a smile on his face.
"That's right!"
"Congratulations, Kazess, you broke the contract with that temperamental familiar you wanted so much away from your realm. Now she's furious because the irresponsible one didn't bother asking who she was keeping an eye on," he said with a "(^^)" expression while a hologram in the form of a system notification appeared in front of Kazess.
He watched the scene with a bitter look in his eyes.
"You banned the only existence that could take her out, congratulations, Spirit Lord! Now enjoy and pay for your sins later, okay? The blame is entirely YOURS!"
He said and turned, walking very slowly.
"WAIT! I'll unban him!" Kazess said slightly desperate, but the response he received left him pale.
"Unban? Haha! Is this a joke to you?" He said, turning to face him again. "Hey, you fucking comedian, the boy she wanted is now thinking of summoning some Hellspawn as his servant to decimate the fairy realm. Do you think he would even try to talk to the Spirit Realm after your granddaughter said this is your doing?" He said seriously, and Kazess broke out in a cold sweat.
HOW COULD HE HAVE IMAGINED THIS WOULD HAPPEN?! He only fulfilled his beloved daughter's wish! Banning Dante Scarlet and Valentina Scarlet forever! But he didn't know it would happen like this!
"Oh, by the way, as a special contract breach with that familiar, Titania's immortality will also be revoked forever." He said slowly and continued, "And if you dare lay a hand on that brat for revenge or any nonsense, you'll be erased and replaced by a new Spirit King." The Administrator disappeared.
Suddenly, he returned quickly.
"I'm also taking away that ability to ban people. The number has risen to 1 billion 800 million dead spirits. You're banned from the mortal world, fucking comedian."
[Titania] He murmured to his daughter via Telepathy.
"What is it, Daddy?" She said. She was alone, so she was her father's cute little girl, not the Warrior Queen of the Fairies, Titania Nightfall.
[Come here...]