Multiverse: by Nick Venomz (best books to read for beginners .txt) 📕

Aksel nodded, ignoring his thoughts for a second, before turning to Roman and Liliana. “What about you two?” He asked.

“You already know my strength, don’t you?” Roman asked. 

“I do, but what about Liliana?” Aksel asked, staring intensely at Liliana. 

She squirmed under his stare, glancing up at him before looking back down.

“I’ll take care of Liliana, I can-” Roman started.

“No!” Aksel interjected. He glared at Roman. “Don’t make the same mistake as last time.”

Roman looked away in embarrassment. He looked a mix of hurt, regretful, embarrassed, and disappointed in himself.

“She stays he-” Aksel started

“No! I can help you!” Liliana declared, raising the spear. “I’ve been training with the spear. I know how to protect myself!”

Aksel looked at Roman, who turned his attention back to the conversation and off his memories. “You allow this? I can’t spare any help for her.”

Roman nodded. “She’s my daughter, I’ll take care of her.” He said, one of his hands squeezing Liliana’s shoulder. 

Aksel shook his head, letting out a sigh. “I don’t want to lose another person going outside. Roman, keep an eye on Liliana at all times. We need to all return this time.”

Roman nodded. “I’ll do better.”

“Good.” Aksel turned around, leading everybody outside. He turned around to face the village, pressing his hand against where the barrier was, chanting “ensure my loved ones are protected if I were to ever leave. Let nobody, not even the Godking, touch them. Fortify and secure.” His chant reactivated the barrier, strengthening it tenfold. The second chant was used whenever the strongest fighters had to leave simultaneously. The first chant was to dispel and bring back the barrier, but the second one was used to strengthen and close it. 

Aksel then turned to face the others. “Ready?” He asked. Everybody nodded their heads. “Then, let’s get going.” He said before leading the way to the forest, which was three miles away. They crossed over an open clearing that surrounded the village. The forest closed the village off from the outside world, except for a single road that led from the front of the village through the core and out the other end. It was a well-maintained road that had bushes lining up parts of it.

They spent more than twenty minutes reaching the forests on the southeast side of the village. Aksel took point, wielding Cyrus. Behind him was Kat, then Liliana, and Roman taking up the rear.

They were able to cross into the first hundred feet of the forest with ease. There were no guards positioned in the forest to deter people from entering. Many runaway slaves had been seen entering the forest, but not many were seen leaving.

Aksel shuffled carefully, his eyes darted around. He stared at anything and everything that moved, even if it was a tenth of a millimeter.

“What kind of stuff is in here that makes you so uneasy?” Kat asked, picking up on his anxiety.

“Dangerous beasts.” Aksel quickly responded. “It’s a competitive ecosystem here. Almost everything eats each other.”

“Really?” Liliana chimed in. Roman bopped her on the head, shushing her. She nodded, silencing herself.

Aksel glanced at Liliana before focusing his attention on Kat. He nodded, saying “The largest of the animals here is known as the Black Spotted Bear. It’s double the size of our tallest man and weighs about five to seven times his size.”

“You’ve seen them before?” Kat questioned.

“Yup, I’m tasked with checking the forests for anybody to take in. It’s mostly runaway slaves that I find. And it’s very few that I find. Most of them hide from me, so I see more corps-” He stopped himself. “I see a lot of runaway slaves here.”

Corpses? How many have you seen? Liliana thought. She wanted to ask him but didn’t want to cross any lines. Aksel was secretive about the stuff he found in the forest and of his overall life. She was already on his bad side for tagging along and she didn’t want to worsen his attitude any more than it already was.

Kat nodded, slowing her pace. She walked closer to Liliana than Aksel. “This is your first time here?”

Liliana nodded. “I’m not strong enough to join them.”

“Why not? They don’t trust you?”

Liliana shook her head. “They’re scared… of losing me.”

Kat looked at her strangely. “They… lost people here?” 

Liliana nodded. “Aksel prevents anybody who he doesn’t judge as strong enough to leave the barrier. He has done this ever since her death.” She glanced at Roman, who had heard her. He shook his head disappointingly. 

She turned back, looking down. “Well, we should-”

Kat shook her head. “So, that means he judges you as strong now or he wouldn’t let you through, right?”

Liliana looked up at her, staring with confusion painted on her face. “I… I guess so.”

Kat smiled, nodding her head. “Oh, I have another question. Is there… anything between you two?” She asked.

Liliana shook her head, blushing. “He’s my big brother. I would never. Plus-” She looked defeated. “-he still loves that person.”

Aksel was too far ahead to hear their gossiping session.

“Well, he seems handsome and strong. There were no men in my group. Only other women.” Kat said.

“How… H-How was it? You know - living with other women?” Liliana asked, a brief smile on her face.

“Not bad. I enjoyed it, but I think I was too… too immature. And rebellious. I strayed away from them and landed here.” She pointed at the ground. “I mean I met you, so… it hasn’t been that bad.”

Liliana smiled, nodding. “Well, that’s good.”

Kat nodded, glancing at Aksel. “He talked about rules. What were they?”

Liliana glanced at Aksel before focusing on Kat. “His rules are to keep weapons locked up, only strong people are allowed to leave the barrier, and everybody is meant to be treated equally without hesitation. He enforces these rules heavily.” She said.

“He really cares about everybody then,” Kat noted.

“Yeah, thanks to that nobody has felt lonely,” Liliana said. She looked up into the sky. The sky—with certain parts that weren’t covered by the trees—looked beautiful with the scorching sun overhead. The blue sky was painted with white clouds. Everything looked and seemed perfect; a nice sky and perfect weather for the adventure. Then huge and alarming screams broke her moment of peace. Reality set in quickly. They were in the forest where dangerous creatures lurked in every corner. There was no peace in the forest, especially for weak people. 

TBC... 

Sister Marie dragged Tasu away from the cafeteria and towards her office. Angelica followed closely behind, staying outside while she scolded him. She heard the argument transpiring behind closed doors.

“I said to stop it, not cause a fight!” Sister Marie said.

“It wasn’t my fault. They wanted to attack me first. I merely defended myself from them.” Tasu argued. “Even if I didn’t fight them, they would’ve attacked the others. It’s better if someone that could take them, like me, faces them down.”

“You could’ve got hurt.”

“I’m the strongest in this orphanage. There’s no way they could beat me.” Tasu said.

Sister Marie let out a loud sigh. “Fine… Your punishment is writing the Golden Phrase a hundred times by the end of the day. You’re dismissed.”

Tasu popped out of the office, staring at Angelica waiting for him, sitting down on a worn-out chair. She stood up as soon as he walked out.

“Are… Are you okay?” She asked.

Tasu nodded. “Nothing but a slap on the wrist.”

“I heard that!” Sister Marie shouted from inside her office. Tasu grabbed Angelica's hand and sprinted away from the office.

“I didn’t think she heard me. Now I’ll get a stricter punishment.” Tasu remarked, smiling. They slowed down to a walk. He stared at the cap that covered her crimson hair and ears. Her eyes, however, remained as red as they could be. “We need to get you something to cover your eyes.”

“A mask?” Angelica asked. “It’ll hide my eyes.”

Tasu shook his head. “Nope!” He continued walking down a long corridor that Sister Marie took him through. It connected the cafeteria and her office.

“We need something that won’t cover your eyes. If you put the mask on, you lose yourself.” He looked up at the ceiling, it had several gashes and examples of fading paint. “Leave the mask on and your identity is gone. You’ll be nothing more than a ghost in a shell.

Angelica nodded, half understanding what he said. 

“Where are we going? Back to the cafeteria with them?” She talked about the food-throwing and fighting kids in the cafeteria.

Tasu nodded. “First we eat, then-”

“Tasu! Tasu! Tasu!” Sister Marie shouted, sprinting down the corridor. She had a few papers in her hand. “Stop where you’re at!” 

Tasu and Angelica turned around to face her. Tasu stared at her as if he was staring down the barrel of a gun. “What… What did I do?”

Sister Marie reached them, out-of-breath. “T-Tasu… W-Why did you run off? I-I needed Angelica.” She took out the papers she held onto, passing them out to Angelica. “This first paper is your class schedule. You have the same classes as Tasu, for the moment. Next school year you can change your classes. Right now I want to leave you with Tasu to get adjusted with Greenfire.” She pointed at the paper under her class schedule.

“This paper will be your dorm room. You’ll be sharing it with the people on the list. Oh, and the dorm rooms aren’t co-ed. It’ll be all girls or all boys.” She explained.

“What about her disguise? Wouldn’t they, especially if it's one of the wilder girls, take off the hat and expose her identity? Wouldn’t it be easier for her to be in my room?” Tasu asked, staring up at Sister Marie.

Sister Marie shook her head. “The rules say that boys and girls can’t be in the same room. As for her disguise, I’ll have Sister Aleshia cast magic on her. She’s one of the oldest-” She stopped herself, feeling a glare. She looked around, noticing two eyes peering at her from a connecting corridor. “She’s one of the strongest magicians in the orphanage… and the youngest.” The eyes disappeared, Sister Marie no longer feeling the glare on her neck.

“Well, let’s get you two into class. It should be starting soon.” Sister Marie pushed them into the cafeteria. “Tasu, lead her to her classes. I will, meanwhile, be suffering under a stack of papers in my office.” She turned to Angelica, leaning forward. “If you have any questions, come to my office. I will be more than delighted to answer whatever questions you have.” 

Angelia nodded, softly whispering “thank you.” Sister Marie smiled, patting her head. She moved the hat around, which Tasu quickly fixed for her.

“Okay, I’ll see you both later.” Sister Marie said, waving. She turned around and walked back to her office, leaving the kids to venture to the cafeteria. There they filled themselves with what food was left after the food fight before heading to class.

The first class in Angelica’s schedule after lunch was a Writing Basics class with Sister Alecia, an educated writer from a large city.

Sister Alecia