The Wrong Hero

Chapter 37 - Introducing...

The healer and priest at the church told Dante about what he expected. The new curse on him wasn't something they could cure. At least, not right away. It emanated from the shield, and using holy spells and water on it did nothing. They hadn't seen something like that before, but they'd look through their archives for anything that matched what Dante described to them. From what he remembered about the source of the waves, he doubted they'd find anything useful. At the very least, it didn't seem like this curse would cause any further festering in him.

As a test of sorts, Dante had the alligator therianthrope alchemist fit him with an arm that he had prepared. While the alchemical reaction was attaching the arm to him, the arm itself began to smoke. Before it would have been fully attached and functional, its appearance was similar to his previous arm. Dante told the alchemist of his condition and had messengers sent to the other two, leaving the arm there to be studied. Perhaps one of them could find a workaround.

They went to Zeltoble soon after. Dante wanted to meet with the sisters again to give Atla her medicine, before they went around the hourglass. With the wave now within 24 hours, any heroes that had registered to it before could now teleport in. He wondered if any other seven star heroes would be there.

Making their way down the streets, they came to their destination. It was a small inn, not too far away from the main road. Dante had set the sisters up here a few days ago, mostly to get them away from the slave market. Atla's condition had continued to improve, and the pair—mostly Fohl—had enough levels to handle most common thugs, so it seemed fine.

When they arrived, Dante and Sadeena went up while everyone else waited in the common area. No need to bring everyone to crowd the hallway. After a single knock on the door from Dante, the door was yanked open. A fist came straight at his face, though his heightened stats were more than up to the task. He grabbed the forearm of the elder tiger girl before she made contact with him.

"Hello?" Dante said, raising an eyebrow.

"Wha—It's just you?" Fohl said, relaxing her stance. She'd been growing these past few days and was a little shorter than Keel.

"Nice greeting." Dante remarked, releasing her.

"Mister Dante?" He heard Atla call out.

"Yeah, it's...me..." Dante peered into the room, thinking he'd spot the younger tiger girl. While he did, he also saw three other people lying on the floor. Through his appraisal, he saw the levels of two of them. "Care to explain, or..."

"What kind of trouble are you in?" Fohl asked first. She stepped back into the room to stand above the bodies. "Why did these guys come after us? And what are you wearing?"

"I think we're skipping a few parts of the conversation here." Dante walked in with Sadeena right behind him.

"Oh my." Sadeena came over to the prone bodies as well, giving one a jab with the butt of her harpoon.

"Is that really you, Mister Dante?" Atla asked from her position on the bed. She'd been growing too, but her older sister had a head start in both years and XP.

"Can't you tell?" Dante returned. She'd been able to sense him before he even came into view—or, rather, before she came into his view.

"I sense a part of you..." Atla trailed off.

Dante had a good idea what she was going to say, but decided to confirm it anyway. "But?"

"But your presence feels twisted somehow." She verified. "I thought you might have been one of these people."

"Well, I've had a bit of a problem recently, but nothing that I can't handle." He said, partly telling the truth. He'd manage the curse somehow, and hopefully figure out what was going on in Siltvelt. "So, about these guys..."