REVIVAL by Nick Venom (great book club books .TXT) 📕

soul be purged. “Tisk, tisk, tisk,” God muttered before pointing at him. “I will grant you the title and power and if it doesn’t help you, then I’ll follow your request and purge your soul.” God compromised with him.

Santiago pondered over the question for a minute before figuring out his answer. “I’ll do it,” He declared. God smiled. He waved his fingers around to return Santiago’s soul to his body.

Santiago felt his soul return to his body as he took a large gasp of fresh breath. He checked his body to see that nothing was out of place. He then glanced at the mirror across from his hospital bed and noticed a blue flame outlining him. The power that the title bore was too much for him, seeping out of him. 

Santiago, suddenly, got the strength to pick himself up and walk towards the mirror. His body was altered. His bland and simple-looking black hair that was parted to right now changed to become dark blue and styled in a combover. His glasses--that he had on for his entire life--- were no longer needed as he regained his sight. His face also changed from that of a child to a proper young man’s long and strong face. He also noticed a change in his clothing. Instead of his usual tattered clothes, he wore a black leather jacket with a solid black tee under it along with a matching pair of black leather pants and shoes. He now resembled a delinquent of sorts. “Your bullies are heading to your room. Get rid of them now, while you have the chance.” God ordered him from within his mind. “Everything about you has improved. You are a hundred times stronger than them!” He declared.

“Today, we’ll get rid of him forever!” Alex declared, his voice ricocheting off the hospital’s walls. Santiago heard his buddies agree with him. He then balled his fingers into a fist, preparing himself for a fight that would spark his future.

 

TBC…

Chapter Twenty One "The Two Katana Beast S1 E1 - Traveler"

Glaz awoke in a field, unsure where he was His eyes adjusted to the sun that basked over him. He sat up as, instantly, memories began shooting into his head, pounding him in. Unfortunately, the memories were blurry at best. 

Glaz looked around his surroundings, noticing two iron-sharpened katanas on each side of him. The name ‘Glaz’ was etched on both katanas. He then looked down at his hands and noticed an inscription imprinted on his palms; a triangle with a line going through a middle. He brought his palms closer to his face to inspect it thoroughly. 

He picked up his head and looked at the nearby pond, reflective and clean. He scrambled towards the pond, crawling on all fours. He peered into the pond and caught a teenager with silver hair dropping over his forehead staring at him. He nearly jumped in fright. However, he stuck it through, staring back at the teenager. The teenager’s tan skin looked glossy. He wore a blank tee shirt with four shades of gray and black; starting from light gray to gray to grayish-black and, finally, black. The teen was muscular, fitting the large shirt with no space left over to breathe. Glaz caught glances at the teen’s pants---a pair of dark blue jeans. “Is that me?” He muttered, noticing the teenager mimicking his question.

Glaz picked himself up and watched the teenager do the same. “This is me,” He turned his back on the pond as a large roar from behind him shook the ground. He looked and noticed a small red dragon flying overhead him and towards the forest that stood in front of him. The dragon didn’t resemble the size that was expected from him. Instead of a large and beautifully dangerous dragon, he saw a small and almost bite-size dragon. “A wyvern?” He asked out loud. He went to run in the direction that the wyvern went, but he stopped himself to pick the katanas up. He then dashed towards the forest with the katanas in hand. 

 

 

***

 

 

He managed to find a village in an open clearing, in the direction that the wyvern went. The village was full of wooden cabins and fenced-in pens. An elder woman, who looked to be in her eighties, with balding gray hair and pale skin, noticed Glaz and walked up to him. She wore a floral dress and a pair of beige sandals, her back hunched over. “Are you an adventurer?”

“An adventurer?” Glaz repeated, tilting his head.

The woman jerked her head back before looking over her shoulder. “Are you okay?” She asked, laying her hand on his shoulder.

“I-I-I don’t know,” he stammered. “I don’t know where I am.”

A light bulb went off in the woman’s head. She raised her eyebrows before declaring “you must be a traveler!”

“A traveler?” He questioned her.

“Somebody who finds their way to our world from another.”

Glaz scratched his head as he looked down at the ground. “There are people from other worlds coming here? How do you tell they’re travelers?”

The woman pointed at his katana. “Those swords. I’ve never seen them before. That and you don’t seem to have any memories about this world. Many have traveled through here without knowing the common sense of our world. Also, they always carry some kind of artifact; be it weapons, potions, or everyday objects.” The woman explained.

“Oh,”

“I know someone that can help you. Follow me and I’ll take you to her.” She said, motioning for him to join the brisk walk to a nearby inn. They passed wooden cabins and broken down wooden stores that lacked appeal. 

Golden Bullet Inn was the woman’s destination. Once she entered, Glaz followed. Inside the inn, the woman went up to the receptionist---a female wearing a maid’s outfit except for the headpiece--and leaned in, whispering something to her. After finishing her words, the woman backed away. The receptionist then motioned for him to get closer. “You’re a traveler?”

“I-I believe so,” Glaz responded.

“What’s your artifact?” She asked. Glaz handed his katanas to the receptionist. She grabbed the katanas and inspected them. She took out a small object from under her desk. The object appeared to be a ball made out of cloth. She rubbed the cloth ball over the katanas. “These are katanas, nicknamed the Razor Katanas. These katanas hold tremendous strength and… I can sense a couple of skills hidden with them.” She told him.

“So they are-” The receptionist grabbed a katana and swung at Glaz, missing his ear by an inch. She smirked before dropping the katana on her desk. 

“Don’t worry I wouldn’t hurt you.” She remarked before turning towards the woman. “Mary, what do you want me to do?”

“Train him,” She told him.

The receptionist nodded, her short pink waving in the wind, before extending her hand to Glaz. “I’m Vicky.” He took her hand and shook it. 

“I’m… Glaz.” He told her.

“Well Glaz, what do you think about training under me? I’ll teach you how to fight, live, and survive in this crazy world. Glaz opened his mouth, but his thoughts rambled around in his brain. After simmering with his thoughts, Glaz came to a decision. 

“I want you to teach me how to live!”

 

TBC… 

Chapter Twenty Two "The Death Element S1 E2 - Jessica"

Zake managed to cross into the Death Forest, venturing into the sea of darkwood. He walked aimlessly through the forest, eventually, entering an empty clearing. The trees surrounding the perimeter of the clearing had blue flames emitting from the tops of them. However, Zake ignored the trees, instead, noticing zombies standing idly in the clearing with the sun shining overhead. 

He understood that zombies were monsters created to serve demon lords and Death Element users. While demon lords used necromancers or waited for zombies to appear, Death element users created zombies from the corpses of humans or changed the living into the unliving to do menial tasks for them. In addition, the books, provided by the royals, ambushed readers with the Death element and its side-effects as well as painting them as servants of Satan, comparing them with demon lords. Zake found the books biased, ignoring their unintelligent spew of words. Unfortunately, the books were correct in society’s view, painting Zake as a criminal who murdered two boys out of anger and not of self-defense.  

Ignoring society’s values, Zake walked towards a zombie and rested his hand on its shoulder. The zombie reacted, turning around and staring at Zake. A switch went off in its brain that forced it to kneel and lower its head in front of Zake. He raised his eyebrows as he took his hand off the zombie and scanned his surroundings. Every zombie in the clearing kneeled and lowered their heads. The zombie in front of him opened its mouth, but no intelligible words found their way outside. “What is happening?” He remarked while looking around.

“A Death user?” A meek voice asked from behind him. Zake spun around and noticed a long gray-haired girl---who looked to be around ten-years-old---standing behind him while holding onto a teddy bear. She wore a pair of pink pajamas with green dinosaurs on them. Zake looked down at the bottom part of her face and noticed that she didn’t have legs. Her hair waved like it was moved by the wind, except there wasn’t any wind or logistical explanation for it. 

“Who are you? Are you a spirit?”

“I’m… I’m… I’m… I’m… “ The spirit girl stuttered. “I’m… I’m… I’m… I don’t remember my name.” 

“You don’t remember your name?” Zake asked, tilting his head.

“I-I-I-I don’t.” The spirit girl responded, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Zake hesitated to get closer to the spirit girl. 

“Well, what are you doing here?” He asked.

“I-I don’t know. I woke up a few minutes ago, so I don’t know anything.” The girl said.  “The only thing I know is that you have the Death element.” Zake nodded, keeping his distance from her.

“What are you going to do now?” Zake asked.

“I don’t know… I have no purpose.”

Zake nodded his head. “I want to live a peaceful life and that can only happen if I establish a kingdom, of sorts. I don’t want to worry about being captured and killed by society. They treated me like an outcast and painted me as a criminal. Even my parents cast me out. I will make all of them regret it. Will you help me? ” He asked.

“You will accept me?” She asked with widened eyes. Zake nodded his head. “Of course!” She shouted while forgetting about his deadly