10 Days later...

"Okay..." Dante felt drained on most of his energy, to be near a strength so far ahead of his own. Reminded him of his position. He cannot stay this way for long or else everything would have been for nothing.

After thinking for a few seconds he walked out of the room and into the cool hallway., his breathing was becoming steady and he was once again able to move properly. He smiled as he thought over what happened.

Dante was glad he started training his body, had he been the same person as before there was a chance he would have died from the pressure alone.

When it came to the discussion, in the minds of most people they would say he failed with his judgement. To think he could negotiate with a person hundreds more times powerful than him. The result being a death warrant was given to him in a few years time.

However, to Dante it was different matter entirely. He had bought himself a few years of permitted safety from one of his biggest threats. Although some things did not go exactly as he planned, he may have proven enough to just show his worth slightly.

Dante had no doubt that Salazar had a plan and had no clue about Dante position within it currently.

'A few minor changes had occurred recently and he might not be sure if I'll be useful or if I shall be a threat...'

The thoughts continued to roll as he walked towards his room.

Before he could enter there was a person waiting at his door leaned upon it. She was in a soft dress that was green and had her red hair tied up with a thin stick. Had it not been for her sour face as she glared at Dante she would have looked elegant.

Dante remained silent as he observed her.

"Care to explain what happened?"

"No."

"Tsk."

She walked up to him trying to grab his collar, but Dante just twisted left and caused her to miss.

"Your getting too arrogant now you realise..."

She stares into his abyss like crimson eyes.

"I had never felt father's anger that deep before. The entire house shook slightly. Even the maids and servants were afraid."

Vanessa backs up slightly and sighs.

"I don't know what the fuck happened to you these past few days. But you need to remove that stick shoved into your ass."

She poked his shirt as she leaned forward, whispering something to him.

"I'm saying this for your own good. Learn to stick to those in power. Look how weak you are..."

She increased the force of her fingers into his chest.

"Your arms were destroyed yesterday. I heard from the servants that you beat a knight that was awakened. But he wasn't that strong, he was a nameless knight with no achievements."

Vanessa laughed as she continued.

"That boy would always bow and stare at me with mischief in his eyes whenever I passed by. Even I could tell what he was thinking. So is beating such scum something to be proud off."

"But still..."

"Tell you what. I think you could be useful..."

"I'll give you a small worthwhile salary if you come work for me. You never know, even worms have their uses."

Vanessa had greed within her eyes. Her instincts told her that despite her hate for him, he could be a useful pawn.

Dante did not respond as he looked down seemingly contemplating the offer.

Her smile grew wider as she felt her temptation work.

However, before she could say another word. His hands grabbed the two fingers holding onto him.

His hands began to forcefully squeeze and twist as she rapidly went to pull his grip off.

She was struggling and her face showed pain, before long she switched from trying to pry his grip with one hand and moved to his wrist. Finally, after a few seconds managed to pull it off when she applied all her force.

His wrist was slightly red and bruised, whereas her finger was completely red and swollen. A few more seconds and it would have been broken entirely. Had she not been an awakened she would not get those privileges.

"Fuck... The parasite is now deciding to bite the hand the feeds them."

She glared at him with eyes filled with hatred.

"That was the final straw. You should have taken the chance. I won't forget this..."

She gritted her teeth in anger as she felt the urge to attack him. Vanessa had to calm herself down rapidly. She knew it was not a good idea right now.

None of her questions had been answered and she thought her father was already in a horrible mood. She had never seen enough fury from him to use that extent of his aura.

To cause another incident and create another fight would only come back to hurt her later on.

"This isn't over..." She said in a growling tone as she clenched her fists.

When she arrived at the bottom of the stairs her shout could be heard all over the mansion as a doctor treated her, claiming there was only a slight bruise on her hand and she should remain calm.

***

The next 10 days passed by without much changing.

Dante still ate in his room for every meal as his ban would last another 4 days. During this time he would spend everyday training his body and breathing. He consistently went to the training grounds and would be the first person in and last to leave.

This made Dante's reputation go up slightly, he was cold, unapproachable and heavily dedicated to his training. The senior knights had respect for this worth ethics as the new ones didn't seem to have the same focus.

The battlefield was not a playground, if they did not sweat more in training. They bled more in war.

Being compared to Dante made the younger and newer recruits favour him less as the comparison would wound their ego.

Silvana was like Dante, she was still uninterested in those that approached her and focused hard on the training. The only few times she would talk quite abit was when her father would approach her. This bond would bring the mood up as everyone dedicated themselves to training harder.

His family had avoided him completely. His mother had left for business as well as his father. Dante's eldest brother had returned back to the academy after leaving for a short break. This left Vanessa alone with Dante but she had gone out to hunt for monsters in the lowest ranked dungeon with her close friend. The name of her friend was Emily Bertain.

The Bertain family was another influential family just like Dante's. However, they built their wealth mainly upon using trading and merchants. They lacked a clear figure like Balathazar, Dante's grandfather, to be seated at the council and is therefore lower than Demiscue in status slightly.

However, Emily's grandmother was the chief of treasury in the court of the Emperor, so that added to their prestige.

The Bertain had decided to go on a hunt in the dungeon that was close to their household. Since it did not have much of a difficulty the head thought it would be perfect practice for Emily.

On the evening's within the palace, Dante would read books and practice his breathing, he found that his airway had improved significantly and he found it easier to hold his breath for longer periods of time.

He had not seen Jason much throughout the days as he went out on a trip on the seventh day for his time off.

Time progressed forwards and on the tenth night Jason had returned.

He was wearing a brown cloak with a hood over his head, beneath the coat was the suit he proudly wore as a butler. He had entered through the window and was standing Infront of Dante.

Dante looked up from his book as he waited for Jason to explain himself.

The cape from his brown cloak flapping as the wind blew in.

"I have fulfilled your task."

Dante suddenly closed the book and threw it to his bed. The book bouncing slightly as it rested upon the covers softly.

"Reveal it."

Jason lowered his hood revealing his tanned face. Reaching into his left breast pocket he pulled out a white jade like ring. It was smooth and beautiful. But it's true purpose was not jewellery but storage. A mana ring of sorts. He slid it upon his middle finger and concentrated mana into it.

They were not common, although you could find one. Looking for one with a large amount of storage was the hard part.

Jason's one was able to store about a ruler's length of items. So it did not cost much for him.

A brief purple smoke appeared as it surrounded his hand. when the smoke had cleared. The beautiful item finally revealed itself.

A large teal blue orb shone within the palm of his hand. Within it was a light glowing in a pulsing manner.

"The mana orb..."