Two Page Shorts - Nick Venom (big ebook reader txt) 📗

as yours would’ve gotten you jailed and hung. I suggest that you listen well and cause less trouble, else… something won’t go according to my plan.” His words cut like a knife. Ricardo backed down, giving up dominance to the king. King Marshall grinned as he saw Ricardo inch back into the crowd of his classmates.

“I apologize… your majesty,” Ricardo said, lowering his head. “I… I didn’t mean to say anything out of line.

“Why are you lowering your head?” Zee heard one of his classmates' whisper. However, Ricardo couldn’t speak as the king began talking again and filling the room with his voice. Zee, meanwhile, already figured out the reason. He doesn’t want his actions to speak for us as a group. That damned class president even tried to be our president in this situation.

“-demon king is defeated, then you’ll be faced with an artifact known as The Supreme Artifact. It holds the ability to grant any user five wishes, be it reviving the dead or going back to your world. Your mission will be to fetch this artifact and return it. I’ll then release the tethers keeping you and your class stuck in my world.”

Ricardo and many others nodded their heads.

The king didn’t nod back, silently staring at them all in turn. His attention lingered on Zee for an extra few seconds before focusing on Ricardo. “You have all been blessed by the Gods of this world. Announce ‘Menu’ and you will get to see your stats and skill. One by one, reveal your name and ability to me.” He ordered.

Ricardo furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to argue with him, but felt it silenced by a mysterious force. He could speak, but his voice didn’t come out of his mouth. It was as if he has lost his ability to speak.

“You!” King Marshall shouted, pointing at Ricardo. “You go first!”

Ricardo nodded, feeling as if someone was moving his body for him. He approached the king, suddenly kneeling. This caught both Ricardo and his classmates off guard.

“Name and skill.” The king reminded him.

“I am Ricardo Houssier. I possess the skill of Creation: Fire.” 

King Marshall grinned before letting out a small chuckle. “Good. I’ll pair you with a suitable teacher instantly.”

Ricardo nodded, unsure why he was nodding. He didn’t have control over most functions of his body. However, he still had control over his eyes. He darted from left to right, scanning what little he could. He quickly noticed that the king had two men dressed in black cloaks on either side of the throne, both staring at the ground and muttering something to themselves. Ricardo couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he understood that it wasn’t something good.

“Next!” The king announced as one of his maids approached Ricardo and led him away by his arms. He was taken out of the throne room through a series of doors on the right of the king.

Following Ricardo was another classmate, who spilled his information quickly before being sent away, escorted by a maid. After him was another classmate then another until everyone until it was time for Zee’s turn. He was the last of the class, now standing in the throne room with the king, the two cloaked men, and a few maids. 

“Name and skill.” The king repeated himself.

Zee nodded, this action being done by himself. He was very interested in his skill and excited about being in this world, though he felt unsure about the king. “I am Zee Tenzo. My skill is… Creation Darkness.”

The king lost his smug grin, now staring at Zee with a blank expression. “C-Can you repeat that?”

“I am Zee-”

“Skip your name, repeat your skill!” The king angrily shouted at him.

Zee flinched at being shouted at. “M-My skill i-is Creation Darkness.”

The king’s eyes grew two sizes as the cloaked men by his throne stared at each other awkwardly. Neither knew what to do.

“T-T-The devil’s been reborn! Kill him! Stop the devil before he plagues this kingdom! To the graveyard!” He exclaimed as he pointed fingers at Zee. How is this happening? I thought we prevented their interference? He thought to himself. So how did he infect him? He’s the devil! I cannot allow history to repeat itself or I’ll lose everything. My money and my power! He thought to himself.

The cloaked men by his throne sprinted towards him. Zee inched away, frightened and bewildered by their actions. He put up his hands to protect his face as if that would do him any good. He closed both of his eyes as he anticipated the attack and the feeling of the knives both men were armed with slicing into him. However, the attack never arrived even after spending several moments waiting for it. 

“Time Slow activated!” A grim voice declared. Zee looked around and noticed that time was moving slowly. The cloaked men were a few feet from him, inching closer and closer towards him, but in slow motion.

“Grant me permission to take over! I’ll get us out of here!” The voice declared. Zee hesitated to answer, staring at the cloaked men then at the king. He had an expression of disgust and anger, directing it directly at Zee.

“I… I…” His voice trailed off.

“You have only a few moments left. Make your decision.”

Zee bit his lip before nodding his head. “I… I guess. You have my permission.”

“Taking control… Darkness activated… Darkness Scythe activated…” The voice, a grim robotic tone, spoke. As it spurred out the last word, a scythe materialized in front of him. It was a carbon-black blade attached to a black pole.  

“Here’s your weapon.” The voice told him. “Take it.” 

Zee nodded and grabbed hold of the scythe, seeing that time was reverting to normal. The cloaked men swung at him, wearing grins as they believed that he was dead. Unfortunately for them, Zee’s scythe blocked both knife swings with ease. It was as if the scythe had a mind of its own. 

The cloaked men were startled by Zee blocking their swings, taking a few steps backward. However, they quickly recovered and charged forward, swinging at Zee several times. All of the swings were parried by the scythe, which also pushed Zee back multiple times. Every blow parried was another inch backward until his back was pushed against a glass window. 

“Turn and jump!” The voice ordered. 

“What!” Zee shouted. 

“Turn and jump!” The voice repeated. Zee hesitated for a few seconds, looking around for an answer. Ricardo and his other classmates weren’t in the room and the only people left behind worked for the king. Nobody there wanted him alive, especially the king. And if his classmates were here, he didn’t expect any of them to sacrifice their lives, or at least their freedoms, to assist him. He had no allies in the castle - his decision was made. He turned around and charged into the window. His scythe acted faster than he could, breaking it before he made contact. He flew out of the window, plummeting to the ground. 

“Time Slow activated! Grapple Hook activated!” The voice declared. A small attachment to his wrist, a small cannon-looking device that appeared out of nowhere, shot out a thin but flexible string that grabbed ahold of a crack in the castle’s wall. The grappling hook slowed Zee’s descent enough to allow him a peaceful landing.

Once he landed, the grapple hook launcher disappeared, turning into a blob of black liquid before disintegrating. He stood on the side of the castle, now looking up at the window that he jumped out of. The cloaked men assisting the king glared at him from the window. 

“What should I do now?” Zee asked, unsure of his path. He knew that it wouldn’t be as a hero, anymore. At least, not in this kingdom.

“Escape. Head into the town. Disguise yourself.” The voice instructed him. He complied with the instructions and turned away from the castle, sprinting away from it. He headed into town, lowering his head and hoping that he didn’t stand out.

Fortunately for him, no one noticed him.

***

Zee walked through the main road aimlessly. He looked around at the food stands and businesses with careful eyes, unsure if they knew about his existence and were looking for him.

“Where am I going? And who are you?” Zee asked his mind. 

“You can call me… Oz.” The voice said.

“Okay, Oz. What are you? I know you’re not a human or anything close to it.” 

“I am… I am… I-I am… Memory wiped, all data concerning the origin of Oz has been terminated by the previous owner.” Oz stuttered.

He shook his head disapprovingly. “So you don’t know anything about your origin… but are you a parasite or a chip inside my brain?” He lowered his head to avoid detection from a squad of guards that ran past him. 

“Unsure, but… I’m not a parasite. Something similar to a chip that’s been implanted in your brain.” Oz told him.

“Okay, now, where are we going? I can’t keep treading the same area.” Zee said while glancing around for any sights of significance and squads of guards.

“Leave the capital. The only thing that’s in your way is a bridge that connects the capital to the rest of the kingdom.” Oz informed him. Zee nodded, instantly turning to face a passerby.

“Excuse me, can you tell me where the bridge is?” He asked while putting on an innocent look on his face. He hoped that his face hadn’t been plastered everywhere. Fortunately, he had a lucky break. “I got turned around and can’t seem to find my way back.” The passerby turned towards him, turning out to be a female. She was a beastkin, a bunny one specifically. She wore a black and red striped skirt that went down to her knees that she paired with a solid black tee shirt and matching sneakers. Her curly brown hair flowed to her chest and floated in the wind. She smiled at Zee before nodding. 

“I can take you to the bridge if you like?” The woman asked.

“Accept it. I sense no malice from her.” Oz told him. Zee nodded, the woman taking that as his answer.

“Well, then follow me.” She said with a smile before turning around and heading in the opposite direction that he came from. Zee nodded and followed after her as she zigzagged through walking traffic on several streets before finally arriving at the bridge. Once there, she turned around to face him, sticking out her hand.

He shook her hand. “Thank you for your help,” He thanked her. “I would’ve been walking around for hours before I could find the bridge.” He said before bowing to her. The girl, now flustered at his action, waved her hands horizontally at Zee as if she was embarrassed to be thanked.

“D-Don’t wo-worry about it!” She exclaimed. Zee smiled at her before walking off, not noticing that he had stolen her heart with a simple smile. His focus was on heading across the bridge and escaping capture.

“Is there a way to sneak past?” He asked Oz as he stared at guards carefully patrolling the bridge and at the toll.

“There is. Darkness has numerous sub-skills under it, including branches of Darkness. The Shadow skill has a sub-skill that will allow you to travel through shadows. Unfortunately, you don’t have access to that branch.” Oz explained.

Zee looked around and walked to the side of the bridge’s gate, avoiding the stares of the guards. “Is there a way I can get access?” He asked as he looked over the glistening water.

“Yes, but… there are side-effects.” 

Zee looked up at the top of the dark red bridge that extended past 5,000 feet in length. “What are they?”

“To forcefully access branches of your skill… you must sacrifice half of your lifespan. The side-effects are that your stats will be cut in half. Your organs might be prone to constant failure.” Oz stated.

“What? That’s insane!”

“Those are the risks,” Oz told him. “To have strength, you must sacrifice a part of you.”

Zee nodded his head, half certain about what Oz was telling him about.