Chapter 40 Exploring the unknown

With the dagger thing done, I was about to stuff it in the inventory, but suddenly, a message popped up stopping me from doing so, "This item cannot be stored nor saved."

"Wait..." The weight of those words quickly sank in Dante's mind. With the implications of these words in mind, he asked, "Are you telling me I can take this thing with me outside of this world?"

The system replied, "Affirmative."

He took a deep breath and sat down. "Getting angry at something won't change the facts or the events. Just calm yourself down." he closed his eyes, trying to meditate. "Is stupid, and only those with little auto-control get controlled by it." he stood up and walked to the nearest tree, and the resounding sound of his hoof punching the tree echoed through the forest.

The poor tree couldn't withstand the force. The impact was so immense that it cracked and splintered. "But you can relieve your stress by fucking something up."

With the dagger secured and his internal turmoil temporarily satisfied, he walked through the dense foliage until he arrived at the edge of the forest.

Stepping out of the tree line, he saw a cluster of buildings in the distance. The structures weren't excessively futuristic or vintage. Instead, they carried a modern style similar to the early 2000s.

Before he got near the structures, he questioned in his mind, "Would the people mistake me for a monster?" Dante, not being a human, completely changed how everything worked. Perhaps he might be the enemy No.1 here.

Despite these concerns, he decided to adventure into the dark and old structure, which starkly contrasted with Dante's vibrant color palette.

Dante being covered in a totally brilliant blue coat catches all the spotlight, and his rainbow mane doesn't help either, making him stand out even more whether he wants it to or not.

Inside the factory, he didn't find much except for the sensation of being watched and dust particles flying in the faint light through the broken windows. The factory was quite old and abandoned, even a bit reclused from the nearby houses, giving it ghostly vibes. Dante kept his search for human life or any kind of life, even alien ones.

...

...

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Meanwhile, Near Dante, In the dimly lit streets, barely illuminated by flickering lights, a solitary girl navigated the street with dread. Anxiety etched across her face, with the persistent feeling of being stalked crawling upon her since a while ago. Without even realizing the fear drove her to an isolated place, and she is now searching for her way back home.

Just as she was at her breaking point, a mysterious voice talked behind her back, completely startling her. "Hey, I have a question. Am I common here?"

Her pupils dilated with the swelling menace now appearing behind her. The source of all her discomfort stood rearward. Frozen in place and driven by the fear pulsating through her veins, she fumbled in her bag, her trembling fingers reaching for a pepper spray she had saved for such occasions. 

I asked, to her, "Hello? Can't you understand me? Oh! perhaps you are deaf... but it couldn't be you stopped when I called yo-"

Quickly turning to face the stalker, her eyes closed in fear. The sharp hiss of the pepper spray resounded as she cautiously opened her eyes.

To her surprise, an empty street greeted her. Just as she began thinking how paranoic she was, a voice spoke from below, "Um, you missed the mark by quite a lot."

The girl jumped out of confusion, trying to find where the voice came from.

"Girl, I'm down here," said Dante as he wondered 'Did she just try to pepper spray me?'

As her eyes met the peculiar sight, a scream escaped her lips, echoing through the street.

Her eyes captured a creature, unlike anything she had ever seen. Its form seemed to flicker between reality and folklore creatures. It had shiny blue wings that gently fluttered, casting a surreal aura around it.

 For a fraction of a second, her fascination momentarily eclipsed her fear until she triggered one of humanity's primal fears: 'the fear of the unknown.'

"Wha..." Her face struggled to convey the tumult of emotions within. The girl, caught in a storm of nervousness, stumbled over a rock in her path. The gnawing grip of fear, now dominating every inch of her being, stopped her feeble legs from working.

"G-Get away" was the only thing that escaped from her lips.

I couldn't help but say, "I guess I'm not normal here." Dante began thinking, "I don't want to scare her till she gets a heart attack." Remembering a certain ability he had, he quickly went to the system to buy it. He didn't know why, but this ability seemed really fancy. It allowed him to turn into a human.

In real-time, a perpetual burning sensation enveloped Dante's body, radiating through every cell. The polymorphia occurred within seconds, and amidst the pain, he couldn't help but mutter, "IT HURTS!!!" now he knew why his past self didn't buy this ability. It fucking hurt,

Observing the girl still in shock, Dante asked, "Is it more manageable for you now?"

"You—But—Sudden—Huh?—How?!" the shock of seeing something magical change in real time left her without words. Mere seconds ago, that thing looked like something plucked out of fiction, and now it was a normal human like her.

"It's hard to explain, but-" Dante stopped mid-sentence, detecting the horror across her face as she aimed her finger at the air. Concern drove him to ask, "Are you okay-"

Abruptly, a hidden force sent him flying a few meters away. Because he wasn't prepared for it and had just begun adapting to his 'New-New' body, the impact ended up doing more damage than it should have.

Filled with rage, Dante yelled, "Who the fuck did that?!" 

The terrified girl frighteningly kept pointing her finger at nothing. Dante responded, "There isn't anything there, are you-" Again mid-sentence, Dante suddenly felt how the "air" bit his arm.

Dante pondered aloud, "Invisibility?" Now prepared for any unforeseen events, the bite strength didn't end up doing that much. It hurt him, but if this was the strongest it could enforce, then he hadn't had a problem.

Dashing near the girl to escape its grip, she began babbling, "C-Can't you see it? And HOW ARE YOU EVEN FINE, THAT THING JUST BITED YOU!"

"No, I can't. I just see thin air to where you aimed at," Dante responded, assessing the situation. Inquiring further, "Do you know what that is?"

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know!" she muttered, terrified, hugging herself in comfort. But Dante kept asking questions, "You live here. Aren't these things common?"

"I don't know. My life was completely normal until a week ago," she rushed out, her fear overriding any coherent explanation she could muster.

Mmh... Okay, I have a plan. I asked her, "So can I kill it?"

She stammered with a puzzled, "Eh?" in her mind, the scared girl thought "That thing is twice her size, but maybe she knows magic or something similar?"

Dante rushed to where she just aimed her finger at, "I'll take that as a yes."

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Authors note

Happy New Year, and sorry for not updating yesterday. Also, we did it! We passed the 250 mark before the year passed.

I had something to say, but I forgot... prob something important that I want to believe is not important.

ALSO, try to guess which anime universe Dante is in.