15 - deal

The magic portal had let them to a maintain range, from what little signal he could get he found out that it was in the Himalaya's.. the portal had let him to some steps that went to the entrance of the temple..

The temple looked to be ancient, with stone walls accompanied by wooden beams.. the design reminded him of some of the pictures he had seen in cyberpunk.. some moss was creeping up the walls but other than that everything seemed neat and tidy.

Walking up the steps Dante entered Kamar-Taj, a training ground of sorts.. the lady had let him walk beside her for all this time, but seemed to magically depart once they had entered..

Dante had been paying most of his attention to the trainee's in the main courtyard, all seemed to be confident in their moves, likely having been here for at least a couple of weeks… as he was looking at the students he noticed someone approaching him..

Turning his head he saw a young man, almost reaching his middle stages of life.. "You have been brought by Ancient One, am I correct?" his voice was full of passion, likely proud of the rank he had..

"Mhh, I was brough here by a woman.. who could fit your description.." He wouldn't consider her ancient, but her age was unknow to him.. from what he could tell she was old yet at the same time ageless..

"I have been tasked with leading you to your room.." His passion seemed to fade, likely not appreciating how Dante responded..

With a nod, the man before him let him to one of the buildings to the side, where he opened the doors and guided Dante to a small singular room, with only a bed, a chest and a small bedside table.

Everything in the room seemed to be cut from the middle ages, with the quality and durability having questionable standards..

"Well if you need anything just ask for me.. you can likely find me in the library or somewhere else.." The guy clearly seemed to want to go somewhere else, already turning to leave..

"Right.." Dante didn't know where the library was or what his mystery guide called himself, a name was easily found, just matching his face with a id.. but how to revere to someone was always different depending on the situation..

"Before I go, your clothes will be delivered to you by someone else and you will be expected to get up early tomorrow to start your training.." With that he left, not even introducing himself properly, just like his master did..

Like he said, a different person came by with some clothes and a map, he couldn't keep the map, but he wouldn't have to as he could just make a mental image of it that was stored in a memory bank.. with the map he would able to find almost anything he was searching for inside the building, not that that was much as the map only included the names of the mayor places and rooms of some masters including the ancient one that his guide had revered to.

After everything was done, Dante was allowed to explore, deciding to go to the library to find the basics of magic.. the person that was in the library kept a close eye on Dante, but otherwise didn't interfere..

The books seemed to be organised in stages of difficulty as near the entrance were books that went over some spells and incantations.. something that interested Dante, but not something he was looking for.. he wanted a book that explained the function and origins of magic that the monks used..

If he could find such a book then he could analyse it and cross examine it with any other book he found.. his greatest tool was his knowledge so expanding it was something he was keen on doing.. He couldn't really find anything related to the origins of magic, the function was more common, but most chalked it up to be a source of power, as something akin to a generator..

The reeding took time and before he noticed Dante could see slivers of light get in through some small windows to the side of the library.. noticing the time he immediately went to the courtyard to train, or at least practice what he had learned.. he hadn't found anything about the origins but could do without for now..

The instructor of the class was someone he didn't know, just like everyone else there… but looking at his shrivelled up body, Dante guessed that he was in his late eighties to early nineties…. He didn't know what magic could do to prevent aging, but he suspected that it at least helped with staying healthy.

These suspicions were not solely based on the appearance of the instructor, but more so because he found many people that were training to be slightly impaired, with some missing fingers or having a bandaged arm with signs of burns underneath..

Healing through magic would be of interest to any doctor, but Dante wasn't as interested.. he everything magic could heal he could heal with technology, his interested in healing trough magic would be a way to get himself more secure in battle, but time and effort needed to go into learning magic.. Luckily it was a better hobby than just sitting around treating old people with back problems, although he didn't mind either.. to much..

The first couple of days were mostly spend in the library with him trying to get a strong grasp on the theory behind the magic, sadly he couldn't learn everything in the library, he had learned on his second day that some books were sealed and not to be opened by anyone as they contained forbidden magic.. Dante suspected that it was something akin to the rituals he had found online, but he couldn't proof his suspicions without gaining excess to the books..

Sadly he had not been able to even create a spark of magic in all his time there.. he wasn't sure if it was because of his arms or because of his beliefs, but ancient one had proclaimed that he would be able to do magic, Dante just wasn't to sure of when.. he had the time.. but would it be worth it…

Dante still had a somewhat young appearance, but he had lived almost a lifetime for a normal human.. would he eventually not end up as the training instructor at the pace he was going.. doubts were coming and going in his mind.. but Dante decided to put them all out once he received a message from one of his projects back home..

Looking up the map which he had saved, Dante made haste to the portal room where he would hop on over to the New York sanctuary and go home..

He had found a combination that worked with his blood.. and wanted to see if he could do something with it.. even if it was something small, he was just to curious as to see what kind of powers he would get.. the possibility were limited yet abundant, something as mysterious as the x-gene couldn't be figured out in just a couple of months with only one sample…

Dante couldn't help thinking of what his powers could become… he knew that even if the x-gene stayed in his body and was adapted within him it might not be awakened.. but from the earlier test he knew that the chemicals in his body would react to the gene, causing them to awakening if they had not already decided what kind of power to become…

Arriving to the portal room he found that each door lead to a differently designed building, there were three each leading to one of the sanctuaries that supported a integrate patter that protected the earth..

Dante had doubts as to why such a thing was needed, but could only find answers that were akin to; 'The barrier holds a integral part in the protection of earth and its residences against otherworldly threats.' The book didn't mention what kind of threats, if it was someone or something, only naming it evil..

Looking at the signs above the doors he saw the locations of the three different sanctums.

'The Hong Kong.. The London.. The New York sanctum..' He reached for the door, opening it and stepping trough…

He couldn't notice a thing.. it felt to him as if he just walked through any normal door.. instead of getting exited by the prospects Dante became somewhat disappointed..

"To not even sense yourself being transported through space in a single step.." He knew it wasn't as simple as that, but he just felt like his efforts weren't paying off, even if he had only practised for a couple of days…

Dante walked through the building, looking at some strange items that were strewn around.. they would likely be magical in some way, but he couldn't tell.. exiting the building left him on a normal street… it was getting somewhat dim, but he could still easily get his bike to come pick him up..

He had left Kamar-Taj just in the middle of the night, so it wasn't a surprise that it was getting dark in new York ..

After a while of waiting his bike arrived, without anyone on it riding it.. it would have certainly looked strange to anyone on the road, but Dante didn't mind, he just wanted to get home..

Getting on the bike, he rode to his home, getting there with a record time.. just as he was about to park his bike in his garage he noticed something strange…

Some of the lights in the area were flickering, with even his own light beginning to dim… he could see that there was nothing wrong with the lights and quickly concluded that it must be something supernatural.. he had seen movies when he was young.. he knew that this was a sign of something bad approaching..

Just as he was looking around he noticed a man standing on the opposite side of the road.. he hadn't seen him there before, meaning that he must have appeared out of nowhere..

The man was completely enveloped by shadows, luckily Dante could use his cybernetic eyes to see him clearly..

The man wore a old trench coat with a stylish suit underneath, a silver cane was at his side matching the jewels he wore.. he had a small smile on his face, clearly anticipating something great..

Dante placed the bike in its usual spot, closing the garage door as he walked back outside.. the man had walked over the road now standing a few meters before Dante.. still having that small warm smile on his face..

"Who.. why did you come here?" Dante wanted to know who he was talking to, but even if he did what good would it do… actions spoke louder than words after all..

"Well I was interested in something of yours.. would you be interested in a small trade?" the man stepped forward, while making sure his posture remained perfect..

"Well the clinic is closed and I am currently busy so.." It all just sounded like trouble.. even if it was a good deal, the one he had made it with would have a ulterior motive for sure, likely meaning that the thing he was interested in was better than Dante had previously thought..

"Oh I realise that, learning magic must be difficult for someone like you." The mans words alarmed Dante.. he clearly knew more than he let on, confirming what he had feared.. The man was someone with powers he didn't grasp.. this was not a familiar feeling for Dante as he knew most of the cyberware that was on the market and what he needed to look out for.

"What was it that you were interested in?" The man before him heard his doubt filled words, smiling innocently as he responded…

"Ah, yes the core… one from the eternal that you killed." He was extremely casual about it, as if it was a normal occurrence for Dante to rip out a core from a robotic body..