Megan’s Request
After Zac accompanied Dante and Megan to the gym on campus, the redhead expressed his lack of confidence, as he only attended a gym when he was in high school.
Nonetheless, Dante knew that his nerves would fade away once he tested his own skills.
For starters, the trio went into the martial arts room, which Dante and Megan used to practice their physical combat since it was quite spacious.
"Alright, Zac. Try to evade my attack," said Dante to his friend as they both stood in the center of the room, with Megan watching from the side.
"W-w-wait…!" Zac exclaimed, but the warlock was already rushing forward.
Suddenly, Dante stopped right in front of the redhead and turned his body to give him a roundhouse back kick, and while everything happened in a mere second, time seemed to get slower for Zac.
Out of pure intuition, the redhead took a casual step back and stumbled as Dante's kick grazed his face, avoiding it altogether.
"Huh…?" uttered Zac in confusion.
"Not bad. Your reflexes are quite sharp," Dante commented.
"Uhh, no. I think I just flinched and got lucky…" Zac replied.
"Even if you weren't thinking about evading, your body moved on its own. That kick would have shattered your skull if it landed…" Megan interjected, watching the two attentively.
"Dante, let me try," she continued, stepping to the center of the room.
When the brunette launched herself at Zac, she opened with a sidekick aimed at his body, making him jump vertically two meters in the air to avoid it.
Megan was surprised at the height of his jump, but as soon as he landed, she took the opening and struck Zac's chest with her open palm, pushing him back and making him fall on his rear.
"He definitely has some superhuman reflexes, but it doesn't mean much without technique," said the brunette, stretching her hand to help Zac stand up.
"My body is just reacting…" Zac commented.
Seeing that she would have to start from the beginning, Megan brought a punching bag and gave the redhead a few tips when it came to fighting.
Still, all her expectations were shattered when Zac punched the sandbag hard enough to rip it open and fling it to the other side of the room.
"Ouch…" Zac said, looking at his fist throbbing from the pain.
"Your body isn't used to that much strength. You just have to keep practicing to the point where it doesn't hurt your fists anymore," Dante casually said as he inspected his friend's hand.
When the warlock turned his gaze towards the brunette, he saw her curiously scrutinizing the punching bag on the ground.
"I suppose we've gotta pay for that…" the warlock noted, scratching the back of his head.
"Dante…" Megan replied, ignoring his comment while standing up, locking her emerald eyes with his.
"Let's do a contract," she continued with a straight face.
The warlock stayed silent for a moment, focusing his sight on the energy flow that came from the woman, and he could tell that she was dead serious.
"Alright," he said without restraint.
"Not even going to think about it?" Megan asked.
"What's there to think? I trust you. If you guys ever had any ill intention towards me, I would have noticed long ago…" Dante explained.
Megan gave him a slight smile, making the warlock flinch momentarily and turn his face away—an interaction that Zac witnessed closely.
'Was he embarrassed?' the redhead pondered.
He had seen Dante interacting with lots of different women since they became friends, and it didn't matter how attractive they were. The warlock didn't show any sort of romantic interest and never got flustered by their words.
'Hmm, maybe I misunderstood,' Zac thought, leaving the matter aside.
After the trio practiced their fighting technique for a few more hours, they showered at the gym's facilities and walked to the apartments.
It was still early at night, so the group decided to wait until after dinner to go to the park for the contract between Megan and Dante.
Sophia, who heard about their plans, decided to accompany them as she was curious to see Dante's powers.
Later that night, the group of four arrived at the empty park and walked to the area that Dante used as training grounds, which still had the markings and fallen trees from last time.
"It won't take me as long as Zac's…" Dante commented, pointing his palm at the ground and summoning the Shadow Well.
Clenching his hand tightly above the obsidian bowl, the warlock squeezed until blood dripped inside of it, making Sophia recoil a little while Zac and Megan seemed more indifferent at the sight.
Believing that Megan's body could intake a higher amount of power than Zac's, Dante began waving his hand in a circular motion atop the well, producing a shadowy, purple mist from it.
'Zac said he was a warrior, so a physical enhancement seemed appropriate. Megan is a different case, though…' Dante thought, engrossed in his spell.
The warlock knew that Megan already had impressive physical abilities for someone who wasn't using any type of magic.
She was adept at mixed martial arts and had great aim when shooting, reminding him of an old friend who used to be an assassin called Sylas.
With a smirk, Dante increased the intensity of his spell, producing more of the shadowy strands as he got a sudden spark of inspiration.
However, while a small purple orb started to form inside the obsidian bowl, the warlock felt a shock on the left side of his chest, making him grit his teeth in pain.
Noticing the unfinished orb was cracking, Dante focused and maintained his arm above the well, using his other hand as support to keep it up.
The earth trembled a little, making the warlock's companions a bit worried after seeing a drop of blood coming out of his nose.
Nonetheless, the warlock pushed through the pain and didn't let go of the spell, creating a shockwave that knocked everyone around on their rear, including Dante.