Chapter 4
TRAINING
Spencer used his connections to get Dante set up at an orphanage near the dojo. Dante spent most of his time at the dojo but Spencer thought it was important for him to be around normal humans and learn how to coexist with them. Dante went to school most days and then went to the dojo after to train. Dante had told Spencer what his mother's last words were and Spencer knew that in order for Dante to save humanity he would have to be a part of it.
As usual Spencer never held back when it came to training/torturing Dante. One day Dante could be hanging upside down from his feet with a bucket full of water beneath him and an empty bucket hanging just above his feet. Dante was given a small hand towel and told to move the water from the bottom bucket to the top one using the hand towel to soak and wring the water. The next day he would be at a shooting range with Spencer learning about all kinds of firearms. Dante was determined. His training pushed him to the Limits daily, but he didn't care. Everything he learned was a step closer to his brother and avenging his mother.
Elsewhere, Vergil was being trained to fight with demons. Lucian and Malakai had what seemed like an infinite amount of demons to hurl at Vergil. Virgil was also being taught at the best schools developing his mind for world conquest. He was truly becoming elite in mind and body.
The boys were exponentially getting stronger and smarter day by day. Dante was being taught to use firearms as well as traditional weapons of the martial arts. Virgil also trained with weapons of the martial arts, but instead of firearms he was being taught to focus his demon energy and use it in his attacks.
Their training methods were as different as night and day. Dante would start at the bottom of the mountain, he ran with two five-gallon buckets of water, hanging from ropes joined by a large wooden board, all the way to the top past the cloud line to the dojo. Vergil was in a huge dark room surrounded by demons and using his own energy to find the demons and vanquish them. While Dante was getting physically stronger, Vergil was strengthening his inner power. Dante was a part of human society and Vergil was practically in exile from the human world.
Dante was becoming more proficient and precise with firearms while Vergil was able to channel his demon energy into what looked like needles made of light that he could hurl at opponents. The needles at this point were still weak and he could only manifest one at a time. When they struck an opponent they merely served to push or distract, but Vergil was getting stronger. When he first started to create the needles they were only light and had no substance. Little by little he made them stronger by pushing himself.
Elsewhere, Dante had become a marksman. His skill with two handguns was incredible. Almost as though he used his mind to guide the bullets hitting wherever he wanted them to go. It was the same with sniper rifles and even shotguns. Spencer used all his ties to law enforcement to procure all kinds of weapons for Dante to train with. But these ties came with a price.
Spencer had become an independent investigator and advisor to law enforcement when it came to cases too strange for them to solve. He was known as a Devil Hunter in some circles. The kind of circles that knew about the existence of the creatures of Grimm. Creatures that many deny exist, but fear in the back their minds. Most law enforcement respected him as a retired cop and counted on him for his help when needed. He would take cases that no police wanted to handle and resolve them with little to no interference or repercussions from them. He received a call from a lieutenant that day informing him of a peculiar case that needed his attention. After getting the details from the lieutenant he agreed to take the case off his hands. Spencer was nervous, but not because of the case he had accepted, rather because this was an opportunity. An opportunity for Dante.
Spencer knew that he would soon have to include Dante on his "hunting trips." The best way to train Dante would be to throw him into the hunt and let him resolve it. Dante had been getting exponentially stronger with no one to "play with." They would soon run out of challenges that could push Dante to get stronger. This would help to gauge Dantes powers against demons. Spencer could bring Dante along and watch his progress until Dante was ready to handle things on his own.
Thoughts raced in Spencer's mind as he walked up the mountain to the dojo where he knew he'd find his pupil. He slid the door open to find Dante swinging a broadsword. He looked at Dante and said, "pack a bag, we're going hunting." Dante looked up and said nothing. A grin came over his face as if to imply, "well it's about time," and he simply nodded.