Enlighten: - Nick Venom (book recommendations for young adults TXT) 📗

Episode One "Family Name"

“Dirtblood, raise your sword higher!” A larger kid exclaimed, pointing a wooden training sword towards a younger frail blue-haired child. “Come on, already! I don’t have time to play with you!”

The younger child rose to his feet, his knees trembling. He gripped the wooden sword, shakingly moving his head up to meet the older child’s eyes. The older child wore a nasty grin and devilish eyes. He charged forward, slashing downward repeatedly with no grace or mercy. The younger child raised the sword to block the attacks. He managed to block the first blow, but the momentum kicked the sword out of his hands.

Now disarmed, he was pummeled by the several tens of blows the older child gave him. The older child could care less that his opponent couldn’t fight, using the younger child to act out his frustration. 

“Come on, dirtblood! Fight back! Don’t make it look like I’m bullying you!” He shouted with glee. He continued to beat on the younger child without relenting an inch. He believed in not giving anybody an inch in fear of turning over a mile for them.

“P-Please…!” The younger child muttered. “S-S-Stop!”

The older child stopped, frowning. He tilted his head, getting a better view of the younger child’s face. It was stained with dirt and dried blood. A dirty sight.

The older child scowled at the younger child. “Shut up, dirtblood. Get moving! I’m not done yet!” He barked. The younger child softly nodded, dropping his arms and letting the older child see his eyes. They were emerald while the older child had charcoal eyes - and the older child had fewer tears bubbling at the corner of his eyes. 

The older child spat at him before barking “Get your sword!” At him. The younger child didn’t respond, reluctantly staggering towards his sword on the ground. He grabbed it by the hilt as if it was a snake. He raised it to his chest, slowly gripping both hands over the hilt.

“Good, now get ready!” The older child shouted. “I will-” He stopped suddenly, saluting someone behind the younger child. “The new generation salutes the old generation, Patriarch West.”

The younger child spun around, dropping the sword in the process, and saluted the man lingering some distance from him. The man was dressed in a leather vest, a black frock coat, brown hosers, and black boots with red laces. His hair was slicked back and his mustache was nicely trimmed into a trapezoid shape. 

Patriarch West wore a glare, staring at both children with intensity. “What is this?” He calmly asked, a hint of anger resting in his voice.

The older child audibly gulped, glancing at the younger child. “I… He wanted to spar with me… father!” He said.

Patriarch West raised an eyebrow. “Really, Jay?” 

Jay nodded. “Yes… we were just sparring, father.”

Patriarch West nodded, turning away. “Clean up and join us at the table.” He took a step forward before stopping, turning around towards the younger child. “As for you Eden… Train on your own. I don’t need the Untalented Child bugging down my son with his antics. Is that clear?”

Eden, the younger child, nodded. “Y-Y-Yes, father.” He weakly responded. 

Patriarch West turned away from Eden. “I am not your father. Refer to me as ‘sir’.” He muttered before heading back into the large mansion that he called his home. Eden called it a house.

With Patriarch West gone, Jay scowled at Eden before walking past him, his shoulder bumping into him. “You are not part of our family. Your blood may be the same as ours, but yours is tainted by your lack of talent and accomplishments.” He remarked. Eden nodded, not trying to get into an argument with his older brother. Instead, he watched as Jay left his sight, disappearing into the house.

Now left alone, Eden turned around and stared at the wooden sword. The sword was crudely made for him, more like a few sticks bonded together by thick rope than a professionally crafted sword that Jay used. 

Eden, after staring at the sword and hesitating to go any further than a few inches, decided to grab it. He wasn’t grabbing the sword at the order of another, but for himself. 

He felt the weight of the crude murder weapon holding his hand down. He couldn’t move it as effortlessly as Jay could and striking repetitively would need more talent than he held. 

“There’s no point,” He whispered, discarding the sword. It fell to the ground, the “blade” of the sword cracking upon impact. “Even the sword agrees with me.” He thought out loud as he stared at the cracked weapon. It wasn’t worth anything now that the blade was cracked. 

Eden, dissatisfied with the sword, turned around. He headed in the direction of the house but didn’t stop at the intimidating building. He passed it and headed to the stretches of forestland behind it. The forest surrounded the mansion on all four sides, boxing in the square-shaped property. 

Eden headed to the section of the forestland on the side of the house, leaving behind the training grounds - which was the backyard of the house. His new destination was a small clearing within the sea of trees. It took him several tens of minutes to reach the small clearing, but, eventually, he did.

Once in the clearing, he was met with a female his age sitting on a fallen log that Eden had rolled over to the middle of the clearing. A large oak tree stood some distance from them, far enough to avoid being lit on fire by the small fireplace that they used when the nights grew cold.

“Riley!” Eden exclaimed, his negative expressions washing over him as if it was a new day. His eyes widened and his lips curled upward. “You were waiting for me?”

Riley, a brunette girl his height, nodded. “How was training?” She asked.

Eden approached the log, shaking his head. “Not good. I was beaten.”

“You couldn’t fight back?” She questioned.

Eden shook his head. “It’s the same as usual.”

Riley nodded, looking away from him. She grinned for a few seconds before dissipating that expression. “Well… Is there anything you could do to fix it? Will any potions work?”

Eden shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t afford to get any potions or treatment. They won’t pay for it either.”

Riley nodded, frowning. “There has to be something we could do. Something I can do to help you, right?” She asked, leaning in closer. 

Eden shook his head. “Unless you have a fortune.”

Riley scowled at him. “For someone so meek in front of others, you have a sharp tongue with me.”

Eden smiled. “Because… I-I trust you.” He looked away from her, blushing. She looked at him, glaring for a second. She quickly corrected her expressions before he turned his face towards her. She was now smiling at him.

“You do?” She asked, provoking him.

Eden nodded, sheepishly looking at the ground. “I… I do… Because you’ve always been there for me. Even when that day happened and they decided to act differently. You always were the same… always the nice and kind person you’ve been.”

Riley nodded, smiling. Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were shooting daggers. She didn’t like what he was spewing, but he was dense to the hints. He continued talking. 

“This world only likes people who can swing swords. Anybody who can’t hold a sword is laughed at. Mrs. Henson was being made fun of by some little kid geniuses because she isn’t skilled with a sword. None of their parents stepped in and Mr. Henson wasn’t home. It’s so… dumb!” He stopped his ranting, glancing at Riley’s bored expression. What he was saying had become common sense. Strength is everything in the world of Koriyx and it dictates a person’s future. Those who had no talent were reduced to farmers, miners, and other low-level crafts. People with talent became city lords, guild masters, knights to noble families, mentors, and many other high-level crafts. The gap of treatment between people with talent and without was widening by the days. Soon, it’ll be the size of worlds apart - and Eden wasn’t ready for it.

Eden cleared his throat before continuing. “Even so, you’ve been at my side and have always given me good advice. Thanks to you… I’m still alive.” He said before chuckling. He tried to pass off his words as a bad joke, but it was apparent that it was more than a simple joke.

Riley nodded. “Of course, it’s my… h-honor.” She said.

Eden shook his head. “You didn’t have to do any of this. You could have been like the maids and them and treat me with scorn.” He told her. 

She nodded with a small smile. She rose from her seat on the log and approached him. She touched his shoulder, about to walk past him. “D-Don’t worry… I w-will never.”

Eden watched as she left the clearing. He recounted her words and saw it as Riley reassuring him… but soon he saw it differently.

***

Half a year passed and it was Eden’s thirteen birthday. Unlike his siblings’ birthdays, Eden didn’t have an actual party. His party consisted of a few maids ordered to assist him - and a thin cake made out of leftovers. It was a disappointing sight for everybody involved from maids to cooks to Eden himself. However, he didn’t mind as Riley was attending.

He dressed in the best clothes he had - which wasn’t much. He wore rags that were in better condition than his usual rags. His best rags were black while his usual ones were green and stained with dirt. It was as close as he could get to having a tuxedo.

Eden patiently waited for Riley. He was hoping to see her again as the last time he saw her was several weeks ago. Since then, she had been too busy. However, she had made time for his party and he was thankful for that. 

He sat in a wooden chair on the open clearing. The cooks and maid delivered the chairs, food, and very few gifts to the clearing before leaving. They had no intention to stay any longer than they were obliged to. Even so, Eden could care less. He didn’t like the staff. The only person he like was… Riley.

I do like her… I want to be her boyfriend. He thought to himself. My days are boring without her. She’s like the… the light in my life. I have to confess to her today! I want to make sure she knows my feelings and how important she is to me. Eden was headstrong in confessing, believing it to be the best option for him. He hadn’t felt the strong pulling emotion of love before and wasn’t sure how to confront it. Without help from his family to teach him about love, he was forced to explore it by himself - which led to him deciding to confess so suddenly.

Eden squirmed around in his chair, his nerves acting up as he counted the minutes. Every minute that he was alone, his nerves would spike up and cause more chaos. His body was a stick of dynamite threatening to be lit and explode. 

Fortunately for him, Riley arrived soon. She appeared into the cleaning with a disgusted expression, wearing a maroon-colored dress that went from her shoulders to her ankles. She approached Eden, alerting him. He turned around to face her, seeing a large smile on her face. She changed expressions at the flip of a coin.

“O-Oh, hey Riley.” He stuttered.

“Morning, Eden.” She said. “How have you been today?”

“P-Perfect… because you’re h-here.” He looked away sheepishly, his cheeks reddening. “Anyway… how are you?”

Riley painted a smile on her face. “Good. B-Better with you.” She told him.

Eden nodded, wiping the sweat from his palms onto his pants, before rising from his seat. He pointed at the nearby cake. “W-Want a slice?”

Riley nodded. Eden smiled before