Ethan almost heard something snapping in Dante's head, and then he confirmed that he was emitting some bloodlust while glaring at him.
"Take back what you said…" Dante said while clenching his teeth.
"Hehehe, why?" Ethan smirked. "Don't act like an angry teenager… I am just spitting facts. You acted like someone who was superior to others at school, but that was just an act that you forced yourself to live up to, given your position and your power. I can respect that, but being emotional now will make you look kind of pathetic."
Dante didn't answer to that. It looked like he needed another push, but Ethan didn't like to act edgy, either. He was also suffering damage out of sheer cringeness… Still, if he needed another push, Ethan could tell that he was too much contained.
"I guess I will have to make you understand that I can easily take everything that you cherish…" Ethan said, and his eyes darkened.
Dante felt a shiver like never before, and he jumped away even before Ethan could dash toward him. Still, he was forced to stop when he reached the limits of the simulator, and then Ethan threw his sword covered in flames on his face. Dante dodged the attack and then jumped to the side, only to be bombarded by dozens of ice spears.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtDante swung his sword insanely fast and destroyed all of them in the blink of an eye, only to see Ethan suddenly appearing on his right side and out of a shadow and then touching his shoulder.
You received 100.000 experience points.
The skill Swordsmanship received 50.000 experience points.
After feeling that something was being taken from him, Dante swung his sword down to cut Ethan in half while jumping away. For a moment, he thought that he had killed Ethan, only to see him turning into a shadow and evading the hit. Soon, Ethan appeared again where his sword fell and grabbed it.
"Soon, I will make you lose all of your strength," Ethan declared. "Let's see if you can keep everything you hold dear after this."
Dante stepped backward… that kind of power wasn't anything that he had seen and sensed before. Somehow, he felt that his ability with the sword decreased, and a single second of touch would make him lose a bunch of his strength. That made him feel fear like never before…
Ethan disappeared in front of him, but Dante still saw a shadow approaching from the sides, and without any hesitation, he swung his sword with all his might while showing a fearful expression for a moment. Ethan's sword emerged from the ground to block the attack, and then the impact sent him flying to the other side of the simulator at a terrifying speed.
Ethan made his sword pierce the ground and slowed his speed. Otherwise, he probably would have destroyed the walls on the other side of the simulator. Still, the attack pushed the others backward several meters as well… when they recovered from the surprise, they saw Ethan with both arms broken while still somehow holding his sword and Dante breathing heavily.
"See? You can do it if you try…" Ethan said and then used Heal a few times to recover from the attack since his health dropped to ten percent.
Ethan thought that Dante was like him, someone who had some anger issues… but it looked like he still was a teenager who had a lot of fears. Fear was probably one of the most powerful emotions, if not the most powerful emotion, a human can have since they had to use it from the very beginning for survival… Either way, Ethan was certain that Dante surpassed his limits for a second out of fear. Now he had to learn how to control that.
"Is it over?" Ian asked.
"Pretty much. Now the rest is up to him," Ethan said and wondered if he should scar Dante's mind for life by saying some other things while he was approaching.
Making him fearful out of Ethan might make him learn how to control that technique faster, but it might also cause problems for Ethan in the long run… for now, he decided to stay quiet.
"Are you satisfied with the results?" Ethan asked.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"... I suppose," Dante replied while he studied Ethan. "I can't say that I like the method."
"It would be great if everyone could have their cakes and eat them, too," Ethan shrugged. "Anyway, my arms are all messed up now, and it will take a while to heal, so we should leave and rest for the day. You can keep up with some image training."
Dante nodded, and then everyone left the simulator. Emily wanted to train her body, but it looked like she lost interest in that after seeing Dante showing his true strength and then some for a short moment. All of a sudden, increasing her rank seemed so meaningless because of it… she knew that she needed more knowledge, and her rank might help her with that, but she also felt that her magic skills didn't progress at all in the last few months.
"By the way, what do you call that technique, Ethan?" Ian asked since the atmosphere was kind of heavy once they left the gym.
"I didn't name it since it is just a tool, not a proper skill," Ethan shrugged.
"I think your version could be called Berserker, and Dante's version would make more sense to be called Survivalist. What do you guys think?" Ian asked.
"I think that you have no rights whatsoever in making something that you can't use," Ethan replied.
"Survivalist, huh…" Dante muttered to himself with his head down. "I guess that agrees with me."
It looked like Dante also had his own issues, not anger issues, though. Still, the second name also worked with Ethan pretty well since, in Eheia, he didn't do much for several months aside from only surviving.