Chapter 3: Runes

“….”

’H-how…’

Once again, Dante woke up in a daze, scanning his body and surroundings.

He was in the same ancient room, in the same position as before, in the same body and wearing the same strange outfit, standing above the same blood circles and stars.

Both the corridor and the gate were as before, and both the black crystal and the notebook were still in his pockets.

He felt no pain, no exhaustion, and his mind was as clear as if he had just slept for a day.

Instantly, his breathing became loud, his body was heavily sweating, and his fingers twitched.

That wasn’t normal.

’What the hell is happening!’

He was pretty sure that he died a moment ago, the pain was unforgettable. But now, he returned as if everything was a wild dream.

Just then, he noticed a change in his body.

The lines on his wrist were no longer 15…

’What!’

…Dante counted them once, then twice, and thrice, making sure he wasn’t mistaken. But they were only 14.

One of them vanished, faded away, as if it never existed before. Even though he didn’t understand his situation, he wasn’t stupid enough to ignore that.

Dante licked his lips nervously, then his mind drifted to the barbarian woman from before.

Something, something told him she would return again.

He had to run away, but as he was going to flee, something clicked in his head: ’She wasn’t speaking in English…’

He understood every word she said, yet it was his first time hearing such words. How could he understand them?

Dante forced himself to calm down and began to move to the gate. He could always think about that when he was safe. His misfortune taught him to survive first and think about all the weird things later.

Crrrk!

“Argh!”

All of a sudden, he felt a small shock in his head. He held his head while looking around: ’What was that?! I’m sure I just saw a man and a woman!’

CRRRK!

“AAAARGHH!”

The shock returned, stronger this time and forced him to fall on his knees.

Dante held his head firmly with his left hand while trying to process the scene in front of him.

His vision changed, and instead of the ancient room, he was watching a life that wasn’t his.

The more he watched, the wider his mouth opened—the information and knowledge he was receiving were unbelievable!

Once his vision returned, he was left frozen in his place, absorbing all the knowledge and information.

’That can’t be real. There is no way…’

Immediately, he brought his new hand into his pocket and took the black crystal out of it.

The crystal almost fell on the ground in his hurry, but he immediately caught it with his left hand: ’Damn! it’s still hard to control it.’

Holding the crystal with both his hands, Dante began to… focus on it.

He simply narrowed his eyes and imagined it activating, like pressing on an imaginary button. If the memories he got were real, then this was supposed to be enough.

He continued focusing for a minute, inwardly begging: ’Please don’t work. Please don’t work!’

Unfortunately, the crystal began to shimmer with dark purple and black light.

He watched in awe as the two colors gathered together and formed strange marks similar to the ones in his notebook.

The next moment, these marks connected to each other as if forming words, then some of them formed long lines and surrounded them like a display.

Seeing the hovering words and numbers in the air, even though the colors were different, Dante finally accepted his new reality… the memories weren’t hallucinations.

════════

Name: Fafnir

Age: 15 (3 hours before Awakening)

Race: Demonic Dragon (Dragon Bloodline 5%, Demon Bloodline 5%)

——

❖ Class:

[Empty]

——

❖ Stats:

• Vitality: 15

• Spirit: 19

• Mind: 15

• Demonic Energy: 10

——

❖ Domains & Aspects:

✧ ??? Domain — Attunement: Normal

⤷ Aspect: Shadow [Comprehension:0%]

✧ ??? Domain — Attunement: Greater

⤷ Aspect: ??? [Comprehension:0%]

——

❖ Innate Traits:

[Demonic Dragon]

[Regression Marks (14/30)]

[Silver ??? Bond]

[Silver ??? Eye]

[Sorcerer’s Gift]

[??? Soul]

[??? Aura]

[??? ???]

——

❖ Relics:

[Empty]

════════

Dante didn’t even read them all, just seeing how it materialized was enough to clear his doubts and send him into despair.

This crystal was called the Truth Runes Orb. It used runes, the language of truth, magic, and knowledge, to show the holder’s information in a form of words and numbers. Unfortunately, Dante wouldn’t have understood everything about it if he tried to read his status.

He could read only a few runes from the body’s memories, as the original owner hadn’t cared to memorize them all. And right now, his information wasn’t the same as the original owner.

Dante began to scratch his neck, thinking about his current state and the memories he received.

’Fuck! Just… how?!’

From the memories, he could say that he transmigrated into a world with different logics and cultures, but that wasn’t a normal transmigration.

The original owner of this body, Fafnir Drago, performed a strange ritual for random body swap. Obviously, Dante’s body was chosen, even though they weren’t from the same planet.

Fafnir’s life was screwed, and he had been hunted and killed several times by a barbarian. The despair of his situation caused him to abandon his own body for a random chance.

Ironically, his decision had saved Dante. Fafnir was now in a dying body with a bullet on its chest.

Dante shook his head while returning the black orb into his pocket. As much as he wanted to examine his runes and his memories, Dante knew that he had no time for all that.

He took the first step in the direction of the gate, but suddenly, a spinning object passed from under him and flew until it struck the gate.

It was a small axe.

Thud!

And before he could react, Dante was already on the ground.

He turned his head and looked at his leg in confusion, only to find a pool of blood, while his severed legs still stood a short distance away.

Finally, his brain registered the pain. He cried and screamed on the ground as a familiar figure emerged from the corridor’s darkness.

“Oh darling, did you fall? How cute~”

Once he heard the familiar line of the barbarian, he ignored his pain and started crawling to the gate as the adrenaline helped him.

’I have to run. I don’t want to die again… Please…’ Dante kept repeating in his mind, his inner thoughts were what kept him sane.

BAM!

Suddenly, the barbarian stomped on his back, almost crushing his spine. Then she kicked his side, forcing him to lay on his back, his head facing her.

The next moment, the woman’s playful voice returned: “Thank you for finding these ancient ruins for me, darling~ If I find something good here, I’ll remember you by turning your beautiful eyes into a necklace!!”

“No… please…”

“Huh? Did you say something?”

Realising that he talked in English, he repeated in her language:

“Please… mercy… do not kill.”

The barbarian hesitated for a moment before sighing: “Sorry, kid… I really need the money, so try to forgive me in the afterlife, okay~?”

Fear erupted from the depths of his heart as she swung her axe down for the second time.

’Will I die again…?’

But he died 2 times, how could he die again? Why did he have to die again?

He tried to catch the axe midair, but it was moving faster than his hands.

Instinctively, his mind drifted into the original owner’s memories as he began to copy something the original did countless times before.

Two strange energies moved from the depths of his body into his arm, gathering in his knuckles.

“Demonic Claws!”

Shouting loudly, three crimson claws burst out of his knuckles with explosive speed.

He didn’t know what that was exactly, but a wide smile spread across his face as the claws extended just far enough to block the axe before it reached his neck.

Crack!

’N-NO!’

But unlike his expectations, the axe suddenly covered in flames before shattering his claws with ease.

With his smile still frozen on his face, the last thing he heard was the woman’s soft giggle.

The last thing he felt was a hot piece of metal severing his neck cleanly.

And the last thing he saw was his lifeless, neckless, and legless body lying on the ground.

For the third time in less than half an hour, Dante died.

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