Chương 36: Chapter 35. Wet Spaghetti

Pain flared through Oscar's body as he wretched the spike out of his stomach. Shamic tossed him a small vial of healing potion before joining Oz in the fight. The man that had hit him was in the middle, his mouth stretched impossibly wide. Whatever drug they'd taken had corrupted them, seemingly altering what their body was capable of. However, the amount of corruption within them was far lesser than what he felt in Maveon and Oz. As he felt his wound mend itself, he stood up and created a shadow sword.

Both Shamic and Oz were holding their own quite well against their opponents, but neither side seemed to be able to down one another. Since these men seemed to possess similar capabilities to the corrupted dancer that Dorian had created, it seemed that aside from decapitation—or mass damage to a vital like what Oz had done—this was going to be a long and grueling fight. It was fortunate that the gambling den was spacious.

Shamic used wide sweeps with his dual falchions, while Oz kept his distance like a zoning character in a fighting game. As much as Oscar wanted to watch the two fight, the man that'd spat the spike was headed his way. The man's throat pulsated like he was about to retch. He'd gotten lucky that the last hit hadn't gone deep, but he really didn't want to risk it again. Oscar hurled his shadow sword at his target, causing him to cease his spit attack to dodge. At the same time, Oscar charged forwards.

As the man finished his dodge, Oscar was already there with a swing coming down onto his neck. His blade reappeared in his hand and severed the man's head from his body. As he fell dead, black ichor spilled out of the wound.

"These people are stronger than we thought. We shouldn't have tried something this experimental without knowing what we were up against," one of the men said.

"Shut up and fight! This vile drug is all we've got to save us!" another said. Oz seemed to be having the most issues given his slower fighting style giving his foe time to heal, so he decided to jump into the fray and help him over Shamic, who was dealing with three foes with relative ease. He swung at one of the men's neck from behind. While he didn't miss hitting him, an unfortunate erratic pivot away from an attack from Oz caused Oscar's attack to bite in his arm.

The hit wasn't deep enough to sever the limb, but it did cause him to reel from the sudden shock of being hit. Using some of his remaining shadow, Oscar created more crude shadow daggers to throw. Now it was a two on two. The man that he had chosen to attack tried to focus solely on him, while the other was on Oz… but Oz had another idea. His viper fingers swept in a mad flail around the men.

Whenever they struck at the snakes, Oz was somehow able to recall or maneuver the snakes in such a way that they avoided being cut down. The downside of this strategy of his was that it also rendered Oscar unable to put on pressure of his own. Something told him with the way the viper's mouths were snapping wildly that they'd bite him as well, should he accidentally stray into their path.

"Oscar, help Shamic. I've got this," Oz hissed, but Oscar hesitated until he saw why it was fine to leave.

"[Ensnare, Envenom, Eradicate]," he said, and the snakes multiplied and wrapped around both men. New snakes spawned from the sides of the original five, which then created their own. The sight was absolutely ridiculous to witness… and terrifying. As each man got ensnared by their own ball of serpents, they also began to bite in repeated succession. The men's cries pierced through the loud hisses, causing Oscar to flinch.

Small pools of what Oscar believed to be venom dripped to the ground from the center of the entanglement. Despite being told to go help Shamic—who still had two opponents left—Oscar stayed to witness the eradicating aspect of the skill. And never has a skill had a more apt name that the one that Oz had just used. If anything it seemed like a bit of an understatement. As the cries died down and the snakes were recalled back to become regular fingers… he saw how much devastation that skill had caused.

Both men fell to the ground in tatters, their flesh missing chunks from the bites, and in other spots completely melted away from the venom. Their eyes had dissolved and some areas revealed bone. It was such a gruesome sight that Oscar felt himself become faint. A claw raked across Oscar's back snapping him out of his daze. Whirling around, Oscar blindly swung at his attacker. His shadow sword cut into the man's arm but was stopped as he came into contact with something hard.

Pulling his sword out, Oscar saw small bits of crystal poke out of the cut. Just as he was about to attack once more, Oz called for him to stop.

"No! I need one of them alive!" he shouted. Oscar flinched as he saw four snakes slither past him and wrap themselves around each of the man's limbs. Looking over to where Shamic was, he saw that he'd killed his last enemy. Oscar had wanted to see more of how he'd fought, but given how bored he looked there must not have been that much of a struggle. Hell, the whole fight had gone pretty smoothly for everyone it seemed, which he hadn't expected.

"Why are you people experimenting and killing innocent folk?" Oz asked.

"Did you know you killed a kind father, leaving his daughter an orphan?"

"You think I'm the one doing that shit? I'm a low-level rookie, they don't let me do anything of actual importance!" the man said.

"What you interrupted today was bitch work! None of us are important, you lucked out!" a manic laugh followed.

"Then who do you work for?" Oz asked, his voice emotionless.

"I'm already dead, what do I gain from telling you? All I do is risk my—" The snakes around his limbs tightened, causing him to cry out in pain.

"If you're as worthless to the people you work for as you claim, then tell me all that you know and I promise to spare you."

"I-I really don't know anything! Adjutant Aurelia tells us to do something, we do it. If we question her or anyone above us… it's only rumors, but I've heard that those people go missing. And that's not to mention the rumors about where we're getting these new recruits from either."

"Aurelia?" Oz asked, the name seemingly invoking something within him.

"And who is giving the adjutant her orders?" Raw, genuine fear filled the man's eyes as he looked around at Oscar and Shamic for help. Once he didn't answer, Oz tightened the snakes even further. Shamic looked tempted to jump in and save him, but stayed his hand.

"She sometimes communicates via spell to someone, and a few times she's accidentally spoken their name, but I've never heard it clearly. It starts with an 'O', that's all I know!" Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"So… I should seek out Aurelia for actual answers then?"

"She never leaves the Depths. You'd have an easier time sneaking into the [King's] bed than to see her!" he said with a raspy laugh.

"I'll find a way," Oz said.

"Thank you for your cooperation… I promise it'll be painless." Shamic whistled loudly, drawing Oscar and Oz's attention.

"Whoa! M'lago, didn't you promise to spare him? I know you have you scars that you wish to heal… but you gave that man your word. Let the boy go, you saw how weak they all were."

"Back down, Shamic. I know what kind of man you are, and you aren't so dumb as to not know what kind of man I am. And still you decided to come along," Oz said.

"No matter how weak this worm is… he and his companions are all complicit in the abductions and murders of this city's people. And that drug he took? There's no coming back from what he's done..." Shamic didn't respond despite it being clear he had much to say. Oscar looked at their prisoner and noted that Oz had wrapped snakes around his mouth, essentially gagging him from protesting. Despite that… the panic in his eyes spoke far louder than any words.

And then the panic from his eyes faded away as a massive viper's head pulled its thick fangs out of the back of his head. It had happened so quickly that Oscar hadn't processed what had happened until Oz dropped the body to the ground. Shamic whispered a foreign curse and left the gambling hall. The snakes were still hovering over the man's body, their mouths open as they danced around the body.

"You should go, Oscar. There's another aspect to my… corruption … that you might not wish to see," Oz said. Oscar had an idea of what was about to happen giving the snakes were salivating, and Oz was right, he didn't want to see that. But he did want to know why, which Oz seemed to have figured out.

"It's how I progress to my next level. I'm sure your class has some sort of special requirement attached to it as well… I hope that it's not something as awful as mine." Oscar realized that he didn't know how leveling actually worked in this world. He had his suspicions, but he'd have to ask Bruno or Plank when he got back. Right now, though, he had to leave before he saw something terrible. There had already been so much terrible shit he'd seen already in such a short amount of time.

It was important to limit his exposure to such atrocities as much as possible, lest he risk ending up as cruel as Calus. No matter what happened to him, it was of the utmost importance that he never fall that far.

"That was some heavy slata back there, Oscar… How are you holding up?" Shamic asked as he saw Oscar.

"I'm fine, Shamic," Oscar replied.

"I'm used to it." Shamic was surprised to see that he believed Oscar. That made him all the more sad for the boy. Even though he'd been around violence like this since a young age himself, there was something about Oscar that made him think that this was all new to him. And despite that… he'd already become so accustomed to it all. Just where had Bruno found this boy?

"Hmm, if you say so," Shamic said.

"There's evil brewing in this city, isn't there?" Oscar grunted and shook his head slightly.

"Just once I'd like to stay somewhere that doesn't devolve into chaos."

"Come on, I'll treat you to a meal," Shamic said, and gently grabbed Oscar's shoulder.

"I saw a man get his throat ripped out by a snake that had prior been Oz's finger," Oscar said dryly.

"You think I'm hungry after that?"

"I think because of that you need some good food in you," Shamic replied.

"Trust me, s'hika, nothing sets your mind right like a hot meal. Not even the toughest warilio can resist the magical healing properties their favorite foods can provide." Oscar suddenly become morose and looked down at their feet.

"Not so sure my favorite food is a thing here, sadly…"

"Oh? And what is it?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll let you pick somewhere, it's fine."

"Nonsense, tell me what you want and we can make it," Shamic said with the warmest smile he could muster.

"You know I'm a good cook, right? Even without the class, too."

"Just like how you were a good [Merchant]?"

"I never claimed that, don't be ridiculous."

"…Alright, fine," Oscar said with a sigh.

"Have you ever had this foreign dish called spaghetti before?"

Spaghetti wasn't Oscar's favorite dish, but he figured it was fairly easy to recreate even in this world. The Parmesan might be impossible to find, but pasta, beef, and tomatoes? He'd already seen those at the marketplace earlier. The pasta wasn't in the traditional spaghetti shape, but that was fine. What mattered was that it would be a pretty damn close resemblance to home.

"Oh, I forgot! We need to get some herbs as well," Oscar said.

"Also I forgot we're going to need some onions and seasonings for the sauce. Sorry, I'm not the greatest cook. Even a recipe as basic as this has me forgetting things."

"No worries, s'hika. I think I have a good enough grasp on the dish that we could improvise a bit. If that's okay with you?"

"Yeah, of course. You did say you were a decent chef, so let's see if that's true." Shamic rubbed his hands together as a sly grin etched itself onto his lips.

"You won't be disappointed." As they moved around the market in an unorganized mess, slowly but surely they found both the proper ingredients and what Shamic wanted to use to improvise. He had wondered where they were going to cook this at, but Shamic had said he was friends with his inn's owner, who'd let them use his kitchen. Shamic had picked out some herbs native to his land that smelled similar to basil.

Apparently basil did exist on this world, but wasn't all too popular aside from the island of Tyria and over on the neighboring continent, Yorgoth. As for the seasonings, he had no frame of reference for them aside from thinking they smelled like they'd be spicy. True to his word, Shamic was a fairly decent cook. Oscar assisted when asked, but mainly let his new friend handle the bulk of the work. After a bit of cooking later… the room was filled with such a thick aroma that both men's mouths were salivating.

The smell was both spaghetti… and also something else entirely. Which was fitting for this world, Oscar supposed. There were so many similarities between Torralgia and Earth… but also such drastic differences that made it impossible to forget he wasn't home. As he sat down with his plate of the reinvented spaghetti and took that first bite, a brief sadness struck him. He had hoped eating a familiar dish would make him miss home, his parents, his… uh, what else was there? Friends?

Michael, Allie, Sandra, and Jonathan might've been friends in time, but Calus had ripped that opportunity away from him already. As a result, he couldn't rightfully use them as reasons to miss what he'd lost simply because he hadn't really lost them. The spaghetti made him miss his mom a bit, but not as much as he'd been hoping. The spiciness of the dish evoked memories of his foolish, but lovable father always destroying his weak stomach with his love for hot foods that seemed to despise his body.

In the end, it just wasn't enough to make Oscar truly lament not being on Earth. Even with all the horrible shit he'd been though, and would eventually go through… this world felt more likely to become a home than Earth ever would. As Shamic ate, he was also deeply engrossed in thoughts of his own, it seemed. Due to one little remorseful comment as he was cooking, Oscar had an idea of what was hurting him.

"Nadia would've loved this. Her and I used to spend so much time together cooking…" he had said whilst stirring. He hadn't said anything in response as he wasn't all too sure what to say. Once he had reached the final bites of his spaghetti, he realized that there was something he'd really wished he'd gotten to do before having been forced to leave.

"Shamic, is there anyone you wish you could've said sorry to before you lost them?"

"Goddess above, yes, s'hika. I think at a certain point…" He stopped for a moment, and once he spoke again, his speech was strained as if he were about to cry.

"I stopped apologizing because I felt like that was all I ever did. But now I realize that the moment I stopped… was the moment that I gave up on them. Or gave up on myself, I suppose."

"Are they…" Oscar didn't want to finish what he was about to say, but Shamic knew.

"Dead? No, I don't think so. What I'm doing here—or what I'm supposed to be doing— is for them."

"Then what's stopping you?" Shamic gave an ugly laugh that became the catalyst for his tears to finally come out and land directly onto his spaghetti.

"Myself, I suppose. I just can't seem to stop putting other people before myself and my family. Even now… this dinner… there isn't a logical reason for me to be here aside from I can see how much you're struggling and I wanted to help. There's so much cruelty in this world, Oscar, and it pains me to see how much of it you've experienced already… So, if there's someone you wish to make amends with, then I implore you to go do so now."

Before Oscar was aware of it and could do anything to stop himself, he felt his own tears trickle off his cheek falling into the remainder of his spaghetti as well.

"I'm afraid I've lost that opportunity forever, Shamic…"

"There's times where I believe that as well, but… if I were to give up on that small bit of hope, then what do I have left? It's not too late for us to change, s'hika. Never give up your hope," Shamic said with a genuine, but faint smile. Oscar didn't have the strength within him to mimic the gesture.