Time had passed, and the two moons now ruled the sky like silent sentinels. In a room lit only by their silver glow, Dante lay resting on his bed while Viviane nestled at his side, leaning on his shoulder and savoring a honey cake lost in thoughts only she understood.
"Husband…" Her voice came softer than usual, yet sweeter—sweet enough to melt any armor Dante might wear.
"Yes?" he answered calmly, meeting her gaze with the ease of someone who knew he belonged there.
"What do you think about having children?" she asked suddenly, lowering her hand with the cake and looking straight into his eyes, as if searching his soul.
Dante froze for a moment. The question wasn't simple. It was an invitation—an invitation to a shared future.
"I'd like a pair," he replied, with the certainty of someone who had already imagined it deep in his heart. A boy and a girl.
Viviane's eyes sparkled like quiet stars. She didn't press the matter further, but she didn't need to.
Dante smiled, placed a hand on her belly, and teased:
"Although, as far as I know, there's only honey cake in here."
Before she could react, he kissed her, smearing a bit of honey onto his own lips, and started laughing. Viviane, caught off guard, couldn't help laughing as well.
"Maybe I am addicted to honey… but that doesn't mean anything in the bigger picture," she said, still smiling.
She popped the last bite of cake into her mouth and pinched Dante's waist with a surprising amount of strength.
"Are you trying to provoke me?"
"Of course not, wife… I was just joking," Dante replied—right before launching a tickle attack.
They played and laughed, losing track of time. The moons fell, the sun rose, and the world awakened once more.
---
As the first ray of sunlight cut the sky like a blade, Dante headed to the training grounds. Tyler was already waiting, standing with the posture of someone who had no rush in life, yet somehow always impatient.
"You're late, brat! Hurry up, I don't have all day to babysit you," Tyler said in his eccentric tone mixed with laughter.
Dante approached, and Tyler led him to a place impossible to forget: the pools of fire and ice. The moment he saw them, memories flashed like lightning.
"What is it, brat?" Tyler taunted. "Did you think these were only for fixing your blood problem? Get in the boiling one. Now."
Dante didn't move—more out of stubbornness toward the command than fear of the flames.
Tyler didn't wait. He shoved him.
The moment Dante hit the boiling water, pain tore through his body like the fire was trying to erase his very name.
"Your Ignite Veins technique became unstable," Tyler explained casually, as if discussing the weather. "This pool contains a trace of the Ancestral Venerable's lava. It'll teach your skin to respect heat and prepare your body to dominate the technique."
Something flew toward Dante. He caught it: a small flask filled with a bright blue liquid, glowing like inverted magma.
"This is the Boiling Vein Elixir. This is how you start the technique. And you—brilliant as always—tried without it. Hahahaha!"
And just like that, the old man vanished, still laughing.
Dante didn't hesitate. He drank the liquid in one go.
And then the impossible began.
The fluid didn't follow the normal path of the body. It rushed straight into his veins, as if it had its own will, slithering through him with rising heat.
His veins expanded, strengthened. Blood flowed more freely, heavier, more alive. A warm—almost divine—sensation pulsed everywhere the liquid touched.
Outside, smoke poured from his skin like a living furnace. His innate recovery devoured small amounts of mana, burning and regenerating at the same time in a brutal, perfect cycle.
Inside, Dante guided tiny amounts of the lava element, feeling it flow with increasing ease. His veins, his cells, his entire essence—everything seemed to converge toward this new state.
His body rebuilt itself.
His veins transformed.
And the fire… accepted him.
---
Three to four hours later, Tyler returned from the village to check on his "beloved" disciple.
Beloved. Lmao.
Crossing the village took only a few steps for someone of Level 2. He opened the doors to the training grounds—
—and a massive wave of smoke burst out, thick enough to blind him.
"WHAT THE HELL… hahahahaha!" Tyler laughed as he stepped inside.
He sensed Dante's aura instantly—pulsating, vibrant, like a heart of molten stone beating in the depths.
And when he reached the pool, he froze.
Dante was still inside it, standing by sheer strength, his skin shining like freshly forged metal, smoke rising from him in steady waves.
Tyler's eyes widened, caught between shock and amusement.
"How… HOW did he pull this off?!"