A New Friend

8 hours had passed since this incident occurred. Dante awoke in a different place not knowing what had happened, but the young boy was standing right next to his bed. Not much older than he was, with white hair similar to his, but green eyes instead, smiling from ear to ear.

“Dante!” he screamed in excitement. “Let’s go visit my family. I want you to meet them!” Dante questioned him.

Dante: “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

???: “I’m Lucky! Ren told me about you. I was probably sleeping when you awoke earlier though.”

‘Oh that’s right. This kid was lying down across from me when I got teleported,’ he thought.

Dante: “Sorry, my memory is a little foggy right now. Who are we going to see and why?”

Dante thought, ‘Maybe I can learn more about where I am if I follow this boy.’

Lucky: “My memory is a little foggy too. I don’t know why, but it’s getting better. You’ll really like my family. Don’t worry. We might have to sneak in the back though. The castle is a few miles away. It’s where the royal family lives…Well, my family, but they love their title of royalty. My brother, Kouki, is the leader of the Red Faction. They are considered the strongest group of the land. My other brother is just as amazing, but he doesn’t like working with royalty. He likes working by himself, so he gets into a lot of trouble, but he is starting to work with his groups lately.”

Dante questioned him, still lightheaded.

Dante: “Wait…Lucky, why are we sneaking in if your brother is the leader of this group? Don’t you live there?”

His story didn’t quite add up. Dante was skeptical.

Lucky: “Well…see…I might’ve stolen a Yellow Egress Chaplet.”

Dante didn’t know what that was. “What’s a chaplet?” he asked.

Lucky: “You don’t know what a chaplet is? Wait…What type of sword do you have?”

Dante: “I don’t have a sword.”

Lucky: “What!? Everybody has a sword.”

Dante: “Where is your sword? I don’t see one.”

Lucky pointed to a small pouch on his hip.

Lucky: “This pouch on my side is magic. It lets me store as many swords as I need. You might see some people with them, but people also just hold their chaplets wherever they choose to. We’ll get you one eventually, but let me explain as basic as possible. There are 2 main things you gotta follow. First, everything revolves around mana and swords. You can find swords in many places like dungeons and other islands or realms. You can also craft them into better swords depending on the amount of swords you have. For example, say you have 5 Reins, which is the most common sword. You can find a common blacksmith in almost any town to craft into a better common sword, but you might get fortunate by getting an uncommon or rare sword. It’s just a random luck of the draw unless you go to a higher tier blacksmith, which are hard to find. This goes for any sword in the world and they get replaced into the world if you do decide to craft them. The number always stays the same. At least, that’s what my brothers taught me.”

Dante processed this as best he could, trying to believe that a world like this existed beyond his own.

Lucky: “Second is the concept of Chaplets. There are 70 kinds of chaplets that are found just like swords and are harder to locate. They can be used in multiple ways and can boost your abilities in your swords and your physical self by inserting them into slots if your sword has it, or simply breaking them. Although…I don’t know which chaplets have to be broken to be activated. Some people like to hide them in their sword or store them so it's easier. These pouches are mainly for that, but not everyone has them. Chaplets can also be used for communication, but are mainly for boosting you and your sword’s strength."

Dante processed what the boy had said. He realized that he was definitely in another world, but started to understand the concept. ‘It’s pretty basic and not hard to understand, but getting them is the hard part. Also, growing up as an assassin, I am sure people hide their swords and chaplets the best they can or else they would get stolen. Even somebody simple minded would do that. Figuring out how to use them is also crucial.’

Dante: “Is there a chaplet that transfers you to different realms like the chaplet you talked about?”

Lucky: “Hmm…I’m sure there is, but I don’t know of any besides the Yellow Egress Chaplet. I never really paid attention in school, so I’m not sure…The Yellow Egress Chaplet is for opening realms to other places in this world, but I don’t know where else to find it. It’s like a teleporter. It was hidden away in the prisons below the royal castle. I knew where it was and wanted to challenge Kastor in ‘Deceased Paradise’, but my brothers would never let me go near him. I don’t understand, I’m gonna kick that bag of bones to the dirt and take The Bone of Remains. Anyways, I don’t really remember what happened though and I don’t have the chaplet anymore. I have no idea where it went.”

‘Bone of Remains…I remember Ren mentioning that before I ended up here somehow.’

Dante: “Say, Lucky? How did we end up in a different place?”

Lucky hesitated for a moment before he spoke.

Lucky: “Ren said he didn’t want people to stay for too long because his hideout is a big secret.”

‘He’s lying about that. Why was there a need to hesitate? Regardless, what am I gonna do? I need to follow him anyway. He has a lot of information, possibly about portals. I need to find this Yellow Egress Chaplet and figure out if I can find Goro and get back to Aki.’