The Wrong Hero

Chapter 35 - Wrath

"Dante, you have to use an axe to chop down trees."

"What~? But I'm punching one right now."

Dante sat next to Mary, controller in hand as the two played a familiar game.

"But axes go faster!"

"An axe made of wood can chop down a tree? That's just silly!"

It was one of Eddy and Gloria's date nights. Dante watched over his niece while the couple was out. More often than not, he'd bring over a pizza and the two of them would play a game. The one Mary had gotten into a few months ago was a neat one called 'Minecraft'.

"Here, I'll give you an iron axe."

"You don't like my tree punching skills~?"

The girl was trying her best to help her uncle play the game, and the man was trying his best to tease his niece about said game.

"You know what, forget the tree. I'm going to go beat up that mountain!" Dante proclaimed.

"Dante! You need a pickaxe to get stone." Mary tried to tell him. "At least make a wood one."

"Wood? To break stone? So silly~."

Dante had his character rush off to the mountain, Mary trying her best to give him the proper tool.

"Say, do you guys need any wood?" Dante asked, looking toward Marcus and Cassia as they sat in their small home.

"Wood, Lord Shield?" Marcus asked, confused by the question.

"Yeah, you know? From a tree? I can go chop one down for you." Dante offered.

"L-Lord Shield! We couldn't ask that of you." Cassia stuttered.

"You aren't. I'm offering." Dante pointed out. "Besides, I apparently have woodcutting skills and just want an excuse to try chopping down a tree bare-handed. That, or I can try punching a tree until it falls over. My stats are pretty crazy."

"Can you really do that?" Lucia asked, looking up at Dante.

"You bet I can!" Dante proudly proclaimed.

Dante continued to joke around with the family, enjoying the time he was spending there.

~The Wrong Hero~

Lazily, Dante shifted in his bed. It was another day in this videogame like world. Tomorrow, there would be another wave to fight in with his party, this one in Siltvelt. Two days after that, there was a wave in Zeltoble. There would be time today to plan for Siltvelt's.

Dante went to rub his eyes, but found his arms were preoccupied. His left arm...

Oh, right, we took that one off for the alchemist to inspect.

Dante found it somewhat worrying how easygoing he was about taking off his own arm, but there were so many things he'd witnessed in his nearly two months of being here. With all the magic, strange creatures, and transforming people, not to mention the harsh nature of the world, having his arm cut off didn't seem that big of a deal anymore.

His right arm, however, was currently being held captive by the woman lying next to him. With the easygoing smile on her peaceful face, one would be forgiven for thinking she was sleeping. Dante knew better. He'd gotten used to her slightly different facial expressions.

"I'm going to need that arm back." Dante whispered into her ear.

"Mm, maybe later~." She replied, cozying up to it more.