CHAPTER 45: FIRST CHAIN

’Oh shit.’

Dante touched the right side of his head.

’Oh shit.’

Dante touched it again.

’...Oh shit.’

It was... a bit higher than usual, as if something would come out of it soon.

’That’s a horn, isn’t it?’

Dante stared at his runes, seeing his demon bloodline at 20%.

He got a better heart, and every beat felt steady, powerful, and filled with vitality.

’Could I live with a hole in my chest now?’ Dante wondered as the memory of the baron’s wounds flashed in his mind.

He also got a better liver, which he thought was the real deal.

After all, Fafnir’s father had to turn his wife into a demonic dragon in order to save her from the bite of a magical snake.

In other words...

’Assuming that the snake was venomous, then demons have a high resistance to venoms.’

And what was better than a demonic liver, then?

Of course, absorbing the vitality of the baron came with some downsides.

Now, he had a faint exoskeleton at his back and chest, as if protecting his heart and liver. A part of it even covered his draconic scales perfectly.

That exoskeleton, similar to the one on his arm and his scales, was the same color as Dante’s skin and was barely noticeable, but it still could cause trouble if noticed by someone with sharp eyes.

In addition to that, there was the fact that he was probably growing a horn on the right side of his head, which would be even harder to hide later.

And lastly...

’I have to increase my other stats.’

His Demonic Energy stat was more than double his Mind stat in value. Now, every use of his demonic energy could cause significant harm to his mind and body.

But he had no other choice if he wanted to be ready for everything. If he faced another situation where he needed to run from a Rank 2 being, he might not have a Rank 2 frost elf strong enough to save the day.

’Let’s just hope I don’t get caught in that town.’

Dante didn’t know if there was a way to recognise demons, but if Skylar recommended those few towns, then it was either they didn’t have high security regarding demons or it was too rare to find demons that they didn’t care about.

Tap!

All of a sudden, Dante felt something resting on his shoulder.

He saw Elizabeth’s head on his shoulder and her eyes were closed.

’Is she sleeping? Am I her pillow now?’

Dante felt annoyed, but he didn’t wake her up. The carriage driver said they might need a week to arrive at their destination so sleeping was normal.

’Though I’m sure it would have been more comfortable on the other side rather than my shoulder.’

The carriage was made of a kind of white wood. It was a bit small, but it had four windows and two couch-like furniture, one on each side.

Obviously, Elizabeth could have taken the other couch for herself, but maybe she was too exhausted and fell asleep unconsciously.

Dante brought one of his new blankets out of his storage and wrapped it around him and Elizabeth, then he stared at her Wheel of Luck.

It was now stable and showed high intensity of fortune. Even though his strange luck was still pouring misfortune into it, it was very slow.

’Still, this thing is really unpredictable. It might suddenly turn into a complete misfortune like the last time.’

That strange phenomenon happened right before the light spear hit the inn. Was the baron’s attack alone able to affect the luck of everyone with such intensity?

’If the baron’s attack was able to affect our luck all of a sudden, then what is the luck exactly?’

Dante understood so well that luck was an unpredictable valuable, a higher luck meant only a higher probability, not certainty. But what exactly could change that valuable?

Why had his luck been so bad since his birth?

Why was Elizabeth’s luck the best he had seen despite her blindness and the death of her knights?

Why was the baron’s attack able to make an effect greater than what the Jinx spell could have possibly done?

Just then, something clicked in Dante’s mind.

’Maybe I’m looking at this in the wrong way. What if the Wheel of Luck method shows me only the total luck?’

If that was true, then what made that total luck?

’I think the first should be a kind of innate luck.’

Dante’s very existence could confirm that every person was born with their own innate luck. It was luck that couldn’t be changed and was the foundation of every being.

’The second should be the gained luck.’

Wealth. Wisdom. Power. Subordinates. Allies.

All these things and more could be affecting the total luck. A weak man encountering a boar could die and be considered unlucky. But with enough strength, the boar would look like a walking meal.

’The third should be the interactions.’

Just like what his coin showed, every decision carried its own fortune and misfortune.

One wrong decision can end everything.

’It should be how Elizabeth and the other’s luck changed all of a sudden. The baron’s decision of attacking us was what caused all this.’

As Dante thought of this, a sudden change occurred in his runes.

Aspect: Misfortune [Comprehension:28% → 30%]

Dante’s lips curled into a smile: ’Yes!’

If most of his theories were true, then Dante’s next goal was obvious.

’Find a way to alter, seal, or control my innate. That way, I can prevent my cursed traits from causing trouble.’

With a clear goal to focus on, Dante shifted his attention into his luck to try a spell.

Misfortune Spell — Protection Chain!

With a wave of his hand, a pearl chain burst out of his black hole luck and connected to Elizabeth’s Wheel of Luck.

A smile spread across Dante’s features: ’It worked!’

He was right, the pearl luck meant protection.

But what was the difference now?

’If something happens to her, would I have a higher chance to sacrifice my life for her?’

That thought felt strange. He couldn’t imagine himself doing such a thing for anyone.

Crack!

All of a sudden, the pearl chain shattered.

’Wait, what?’

Dante cast the spell again. This time, the chain stayed a bit more than the last time but shattered eventually.

Dante frowned: ’Something is wrong.’

Looking at the driver through a small hole in the carriage, Dante decided to test on him.

Misfortune Spell — Protection Chain!

A pearl chain burst out of his Wheel of Luck and connected itself to Elizabeth’s Wheel.

Dante waited patiently for any change to happen, but the chain didn’t change.

Dante narrowed his eyes as the chain didn’t show any hints of shattering: ’Is it only me?’

There were a few possibilities for what caused this.

Maybe it was because of his strange luck. Until this moment, he had never seen anyone with a black hole as their luck. No, he had never seen anyone with anything other than a wheel as their luck.

The second reason Dante could think of was that the chain wasn’t strong enough to force Dante to sacrifice himself for Elizabeth, which would explain why the chain didn’t shatter instantly.

And the last potential reason was that him knowing he was affected by the chain caused it to shatter.

Maybe none of these things were right, and maybe more than one of them was the reason, Dante had no way to know other than performing more tests.

’What if I do the opposite?’

With another wave of his hand, the pearl chain that connected Elizabeth and the driver shattered.

The next moment, a chain came out of Elizabeth’s Wheel and connected to Dante’s luck.

Surprisingly, the chain didn’t shatter.

’This removes the first potential reason. My strange luck doesn’t shatter the chain.’

Satisfied with the results, Dante tried to cast a few other colors, but none of them worked, including the blood-red color.

’So I didn’t figure it out yet. I’m sure it could cause deadly encounters with enough misfortune, though. It was likely what caused the baron to fight the frost elves.’

Sighing helplessly, Dante decided to finally check a few items he had gotten when he arrived into this world.

Dante’s ring materialized on his finger. Then five spears, two swords, and three axes appeared in front of him.

They were Beatrice’s axes and the weapons he got from the skeletons.

Taking a deep breath, Dante channeled his Ether.

’Appraisal.’