My Nihilism Got Me Laid?!

The creatures begin to wince for a moment, while Riven and I exchange glances of confusion as to what's happening.

Like a water fountain, the surrounding animals suddenly erupt in a waterfall of blood as it spurts from their mouths.

Despite the overwhelming amount of blood streaming from their mouths, they still stand there. They attempt to continue their advance, stumbling forward. Yet a moment later, their bodies crumble to the ground with a loud thud. Lying there, they gasp for air before their breathing comes to an eventual end.

With a pop, the skies erupt into a rain of confetti as it pours down onto the blood soaked field.

Despite he cheerful atmosphere, the crowds seem silent, they hesitate to celebrate; likely due to the sheer death that occurred during the test. Considering all the animals that came to us, I doubt many people survived beside us. All the families in the crowds lost someone, a neighbor, a friend, a lover, slaughtered before their eyes as they helplessly watched.

Even with the unfairness of this, this spectacle and the fact that she is likely one of the few survivors, this will only hurt Riven's social standing.

But I'm way too tired to think about that, in this moment I'm just relived lady luck was feeling generous.

"Graves... we... lived."

She suddenly winces. Crouching down, she holds her leg.

My gaze darts down to her... bleeding leg.

The cloth of her baggy shinobi pants flap in the wind, like ripped paper, the slashed cloth reveals claw marks that we previously cut into her.

It seems the adrenaline prevented her from feeling the scratch mark.

She slowly raises her head, her pained smile causes her eyes to water.

The depressing realization pushes me over the top.

"Mother fuc-"

The world around me suddenly goes black as the lack of sleep hits me all at once like a freight train.

My body falls forward as I slam into the mud, my fac-

...

...

Waking up I lurch forward. "RIVEN!"

Yet the room is dark. I am back inside Noctiva and Dissiri's room.

"Good morning, prince charming." I hear a voice beside me.

With a groan, I roll to my side.

Sitting in a chair, Noctiva is doing her makeup in the mirror.

"What time is it?" I question.

"That's not a nice way to greet a princess."

"I apologize, your majesty, what time is it?"

"I have no clue I just wanted to hear you call me something fancy. Anyway, I'd get ready, it's almost time for graduation."

"Graduation?"

"Your side chick and a bunch of the ninja students are graduating."

I forgot about that... she was scratched, but once she graduates, she will be able to get treatment and it won't matter!

"She's not my side chick." Lurching out of bed, I pull on any clothes from my bag pack.

I don't wait for the other two; as the moment I get my clothes on, I rush towards the direction of the graduation podium.

In the center of the town, a crowd of people have joined around a stand.

"You! It shouldn't have been you that lived!"

"My boy didn't deserve to die!"

"You backstabber!"

Despite the cheerful environment, the crowd of families are relied up. They shout and scream at the row of students lined up. Most of the students look stoic, failing to give any reaction to the anger group of parents, except one... As Riven stands there, she bows profusively to the mourning parents.

Her pained expression looks as though she were the reason for their pain, despite simply being a lucky victim. A woman picks up a rock and throws it at the students with an angry scream. "YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED FOR MY DAUGHTER!"

The rock hit Riven in the head causing her to bleed from the wound.

Other parents join in, grabbing rocks and various objects and begin throwing them at the students. Most maintain their stance, occasionally blocking the debris effortlessly.

Mercury emerges, his dark red outfit commands authority. "Your pain is understanable, but the survivors are not at fault for the mistakes and misteps yourchildren made. When they signed up to become a shinobi, death is not an option instead a date. I simply ask you to hold your hatred."

Most of the parents listen, tears streaming down their face as they tighten their clutching hands against one another.

Like a proper villain, the shogun appears from a cloud of dismal aura.

His tired eyes look beyond the crowd.

"ITS ALL HIS FAULT!" A man throws a mud ball at the colossal skeleton.

The shogun takes the hit. With a splat, the mud dirties his clothes.

He slowly turns his neck to the grown man. "I will give you one... your life is in the next."

The man hesitates, with a pained gulp, the man drops the plank of wood he was once holding.

But this does not stop the rest of the crowd, others begin picking up objects and throwing them at the Shogun.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"YOU KILLED OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS!"

Mercury's eyes widen as he blocks the incoming debris being thrown at his master.

His voice raises in a plea. "Please! Don't! Stop throwin-"

His warning is too late.

The colossal skeleton vanishes, reappearing within the crowd. There is a moment of shock as they all turn to him.

Like a playground in a blender, the area erupts into a wave of blood. Their bodies slashed and chopped into miniscule pieces, their bodies hit the ground like a broken jigsaw puzzle.

There is a pause, a moment, a realization, the families that once tried to protest their love for the dead now found themselves joining them. The next second is filled with screams as the families pick up their kids, their loved ones.

"I ask only for thanks, I have returned you to those you miss. Who could have thought, love was just a blade's length away?" Sheathing his sword, the old man exhales a visible breath.

Blood and organs rain down on the man as he stands there hunched over. Their bodies gush out their life as the unlucky ones gasp for air, yet lack the necessary organs to last long.

My body freezes, turning I see Noctiva and Dissiri walking over. They too freeze at the sight of the fleeing crowd.

"Nobody... move." He commands.

Most of the crowd obliges; those who don't instantly crumble to the ground, turning into minced corpses.

"Mercury..."

Mercury turns to the large man with a pained expression. "Yes... my lord?"

The shogun commands. "We shall begin the celebration, the graduation."

Even the once stoic students that graduated look at the shogun with fear.

The crowd of terrified families stand frozen, only turning to face the shogun once he commands it. One by one, they line up, the shogun whispers words in their ears and hands them a yellow shinobi outfit.

Walking over, Riven kneels before the shogun. "Father... I survived."

"It seems you did." Showing indifference in his daughter's survival, the old man waves her away.

"Aren- aren't you proud? I managed to pass the test? I did as you asked."

It enrages me, but I have no place to interfere, it is her feelings, and her victory, to interfere would be nothing more than selfish.

"When faced with a near impossible task, you managed to wiggle your way past it. Survival is, as I said ,the most important aspect for a shinobi. So, you did win... but I suppose you didn't win, though."

"Wha- what do you mean, Father?"

"What I'm saying is... I made you a promise..."

Stepping forward, he looks down at his daughter. His sunk back eyes glare down at her. Not a shred of familiarity in his words.

It was only for a moment, but he throws his hand out before holding it down by his side. But its different, as blood drips from Riven's face.

"I promised that if you lost, I'd gouge your eyes out. Well, it was a half victory, you did cheat after all, thus, you only get half the penalty.

Letting out a blood curdling scream, Riven covers her gouged out eye as it aimlessly sprays blood. Falling to her knees, she strains herself.

The skeletal man slowly lowers his hand, his two fingers dripping with a crimson red.

"Lets say a bird is pushed from its nest and survives by sheer luck. That bird may have left the nest, but it still cannot fly, thus, it is still a hatchling."

The man begins to walk away. "Your performance was plausible, but it would be unfair to allow a cheater to pass. So, try again next year."

Wincing, Riven clenches her hand over her eyes. "Next... year?"

I finally step forward. "What about the rabies? She needs to be treated, otherwise she won't even live to the end of the month."

"If death has decided to nestle itself between the chinks of her armor, then death is inevitable."