Chapter 24: Chapter 20 Wings Unfurled
My eyes dimly opened to the soft glow of a bulb. The bed squeaked as I Groaned and squirmed, reluctant to leave the embrace of the soft blankets before finally deciding to greet the world.
"New day, new opportunities." I extended my wings and forelegs, followed by a little stretching routine. "What activities should I do today? It won't damage me going to the spa." The morning air carried a refreshing aura that filled him with energy.
Dante set his priorities straight. It's more important to learn how to fly after it's his primary weapon.
Contemplating the day ahead, I mused, "First, I'll try skydiving. It sounds even more fun than going to a stupid spa."
I returned to the familiar location and selected the skydiving option. The menu appeared, allowing me to choose where I wanted to sky-dive.
I didn't think it too much, so I chose the airplane.
In an instant, the surroundings transformed into a compact metallic plane accompanied only by his presence and the resistance of the air colliding with the plane.
Dante positioned himself at the edge of the open door, looking out at the breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains, majestic valleys, tiny houses, and shiny lakes from high above.
He took a deep breath and jumped out of the plane, leaping into the open sky. The rush of the wind engulfed his body as he began the exhilarating descent.
As gravity pulled him down, Dante spread his wings. He didn't manage to fly on the first try but instead started to glide.
Only after a few minutes of freefall and a series of trial-and-error maneuvers did he learn how to control his wings and steer himself to enjoy the feeling of performing a nosedive with some spins in the air.
Dante hadn't felt this free and alive in a while. The wind whistled in his ears, carrying a sensation of liberation.
After finishing his sky-diving session, he went to the spa quite "unwittingly," according to him, but in reality, he secretly enjoyed it.
And just like that, a week slipped by in the blink of an eye. Although mastering his new wings remained a work in progress, Dante couldn't deny the pride and confidence bubbling within him for his progress.
They texted to encounter in the restaurant from the last week. The past week was one of the best weeks of his life. He almost forgot that in this place, you slaughter for a living.
Dante didn't have a plan for the future in his mind. He will just go on a new expedition again.
But Daniel was different. Daniel didn't enjoy this week to its fullest. Instead, he decided to investigate as much as possible, of course, taking days off to do things he liked.
As they sat across from each other, Dante, fueled by his confidence and a lack of a concrete plan, extended his forearm, aiming it dramatically at Daniel. "Are we ready for our next journey?" I kept doing this "epic" pose until he responded
Daniel: "We need to prepare and two more Players." he calmed down my attitude in just a few words.
"Right..." I couldn't help but remember what I did. Quickly shrugging it off.
Daniel revealed what he had in mind, "That's why I searched for alternatives."
That quickly piqued my interest. What kinda of alternatives had he found
"So?"
Daniel explained, "A competition between players, two players will team up and survive against the other groups. You can only enter if your level is between 10-50."
I make my doubts be known, "I don't think we are that strong." Dante considers himself strong but not the strongest. Even with the help of his authority, the margin is too big.
Daniel interjected, "Let me finish. You win when 90% of the players are dead."
"Still, how are we gonna beat so many players?" my concerns didn't lower. We aren't that strong. I'm sure that someone with a sneak attack can kill us quickly.
Daniel, unfazed, responded, "Tell me, between low levels, how many players have you seen that can fly at such high altitudes?"
The threads connected, and Daniel understood his plan. "Oooh! I get it." They just needed to fly away at any sight of danger.
Daniel stopped me from fantasizing. "But I don't expect it to completely work. Barriers, anti-magic, special abilities that we don't know. There should be ways to nullify your wings."
A bit undeterred, I tell him, "Then why do you even give me hope? Wait, how does even anti-magic affect me?"
From Dante's perspective, one of his examples was quite stupid, "I don't think these," I flapped my wings in rapid succession, "can be stopped by anti-magic."
Daniel explained why he expected them to fail, "Your physiology doesn't make sense. It probably works with a passive magic system."
Dante actually deciphered how Pegasus works. They have a more passive magic system that strengthens them, allowing them to control the weather and walk in clouds. Anti-magic might not leave Dante out of the equation, but it will weaken him, at least.
"So, going back to the main topic, what do you even get for surviving?" I inquired, leaning back in my chair, causing it to creak constantly.
Daniel: "100k Gold, a few tickets, and a special item."
"PFT," I spit out my drink, soaking Daniel with lemonade out of the ridiculousness that they award you.
"WHAT!" That's literally what I made in a whole month of non-stop hunting. At this moment, I felt like the first Venezuelan discovering Runescape.
Visibly annoyed at the unexpected lemonade shower, he continued, "Though I'm still calculating if it is worth it." Daniel didn't believe the risk was worth it.
Dante was immediately bewitched by the amount offered by the little input he had to offer.
Feeling a mischievous spark, I turned to Daniel, with sparks gleaming in my eyes, "Hey, wanna see a trick?"
Daniel only responded with a confused, "What?" While trying to wipe off the lemonade stains of his clothes.
Without waiting for his consent, I grabbed his hand, dragging him along with me to the recreation place, choosing a location with a lot of clouds that I'd need for the upcoming spectacle.
We stood there looking at the sky. I grinned mischievously before announcing, "Hey, take a big chunk of air cuz I'm going to do something awesome."
An overwhelming premonition crept over Daniel. "I think I will beg to differ."
My forearms grabbed him, and as soon as my grip on him tightened enough, I propelled myself to the air in a straight line up to the sky.
In 13 seconds, we were already touching the clouds of the blue sky.
I smiled with pride. "Isn't it cool?"
Daniel had an idea to increase their chance in the event "Wait, could you punch someone at this speed?"
Scratching my head awkwardly, I admitted, "Yeah... About that, I can't control it."
Daniel stared at me as I had him in my arms. "Elaborate further"
"So yeah, I can move at the speed of sound." I started to spin as we flew, passing through clouds and even jumping into a few of them.
"The problem is that I don't have any fucking idea of where I am going."
Daniel, understandably skeptical, questioned, "How could you not? Isn't your body designed for that?"
Letting out a sigh cuz this is going to take a while, I explained, "Let me get this straight I might be able to run at supersonic speed or even faster, But if I hit myself with a wall because I don't know what the fuck it's happening, you'll have Rainbow Dash pudding."
"So yeah, don't trust my "Super Speed" because it's gonna be really inconsistent until I learn how to slow down my perception of time because, you know, I don't want my insides to be flying to the moon."
"So from now on, I'll just move fast, but not that fast." I continued my aerial maneuvers in our conversation.
"So yeah, I have super speed but not super reaction time. What a huge load of bullshit, isn't it?"
Daniel gave his input. "Even so, it works to stall time. We just need you to go up really fast."
"So the plan is just act like little cowards and run... Hehe, 100k almost free." Despite my playful tone, deep inside, I disliked the idea of running away.
Daniel added, "Then we must sign now because the event is tomorrow."
"You should have started there." With that plan in mind, they went to inscribe to the event.
AUTHORS NOTE!
Note 1
I'll upload tomorrow too (I kept my promise (: )
Note 2
Don't worry, these "vacations" will end in the next chapter because they will be busier doing actual things. (sorry for the boring chapters.)
Note 3
Y'all are going to wait till Friday for more chapters cuz I ran out of chapters.
NOTE 4 (edit)
You know, just now I realized what I felt in my first chapters, they lacked emotions and actions. probably I'll rework them soon maybe in a week or 2