"I plan on becoming an Adventurer."
"An Adventurer? What’s that?" Void asked confusedly, and Ryuk explained.
"On Endearth, there are gates that appear and lead to dangerous alien races. Just like how the portals open up and the Knulls come out—except that the gates are less chaotic than the Knulls, with a clear grade in strength."
"And unlike the Knull portals, where the Knulls come rushing in, the gates don’t churn out alien threats immediately. It takes time. And when a gate isn’t attended to for long, that might happen."
"So the world needs people who will venture into these gates and clear them of the alien groups before they rush out. These people are called Adventurers."
"Sounds like a risky job?" Void asked, and Ryuk nodded.
"Yeah, it is. Most Adventurers are at the Cataclysm stage stage. Finding one below that is rare. So yeah, it’s only for the strong of the strong—and even then, I heard it has an insane amount of casualties."
"But it pays big money. It’s perfect if I don’t want to spend years hustling to gather up money. Adventurers are respected too, as it is more than just a job."
"I can get the money faster. And if I’m asked for my identity, I can simply show my Adventurer card."
"Now that will be something I truly worked for," Ryuk said, as Void nodded his head before turning toward the distance.
"So... where are we heading then?" he asked, as Ryuk pressed his hands on Ishal’s back and whispered.
"We’re heading for Grade A—Interdimensional Gates Headquarters..." The voice echoed in Isha’s thoughts as she took a sudden sharp swerve to the left before shooting forward with speed.
"Will take 5 hours..." Isha’s words rang in Ryuk’s head. He nodded.
"Now, within those five hours... I need to change my face," he muttered aloud, as Void turned to look at him, watching Ryuk clench his horns.
"Hmm, I don’t think you need to change your face. Just get rid of the horns. People will only recognize you if you had the horns on, since they’ll remember it from the footage—definitely the horns."
"Even if you have a similar face, they’ll be willing to ignore it so long as they don’t see the horns."
"That makes sense. And how do you suggest we get rid of the horns?" Ryuk asked, but then he watched as Void raised up its tiny paw and then...
SHRIIIIIIIIIIIING
The sound of the air getting sharply sliced achoed as five of a meter-tall curved sickle emerged out of Void’s paws, brimming with powerful void runes.
He stared back at Ryuk.
"You up?" he asked, and Ryuk shook his head.
"No way in hell I’m allowing you to sever off my horns..."
"What? It’s a walkable path..." Void said, grinning sadistically.
"And how do you manage to grow a meter-long claw from that tiny palm!?" Ryuk asked with a bit of horror as Void shrugged, the huge claw shrinking back into its palm.
"Previously, I would have to turn my entire body into a large size before I could use those claws, but now I’ve changed a bit. I can grow a part of me without needing to go into a full transformation," Void explained, as Ryuk looked at it with knitted eyebrows.
"And you seem to prefer the small size of you?" he asked, as it nodded.
"Yeah. It’s easier to move around in, and getting into a big size drains mana. Not worth it... Unless, of course, I’m thrown into a fight," Void responded as Ryuk nodded.
"Maybe... I should get a mask to hide or alter my face. But then, I don’t think it will hide the horns, too—or remove them. Besides, if I’m putting on a mask, the Adventurer Guild would need me to uncover for the sake of an ID."
"That’ll just lead to a lot of headache..." Ryuk mused under his breath. But suddenly, Void said:
"Why don’t you just reel it in?" he asked, as Ryuk’s eyes flashed.
"What?"
Void walked forward, and his paw grabbed at Ryuk’s hand, holding it out before him, before he ordered Ryuk:
"Morph your hand into a claw."
He said it, and in the next instant, Ryuk’s hand morphed—elongating and jointing, the flesh becoming that of a beast—before it formed a claw, and even sharp, steel-like nails grew out. Their mere flicker sliced open the air.
"Return back to normal hands," Void ordered, and Ryuk’s hand retracted in, becoming his normal hand once more.
And then, Void dropped his hands as he climbed up Ryuk’s face and ordered:
"Draw back your horns."
"Ah, ah—my horns aren’t my hands, dummy. I can’t move them."
"Just shut up and move it in, goof. How can you say you can’t draw them back when you’ve never tried before?" Void said, as Ryuk’s eyebrow twitched.
"Now just close your eyes and move your horns in. Now," Void ordered seriously, and Ryuk inhaled as his expression regained focus.
His eyes closed, and with a will, he tried to focus on the Nanites that were around the sides of his forehead.
When he focused on it, he was surprised to see that there was actually a long, open space in his head—just at the upper part of his brain, that was actually empty, as if something was meant to exist there.
And when Ryuk focused on the anchors that connected his horns...
With a simple will, he felt the horns dripping back into the opened space in his head. And when he felt Void jump off his head, he opened his eyes to the sight of Void nodding.
"Done," Void said curtly, as Ryuk took his hands to the sides of his head, and he was more than shocked when he felt it as smooth as glass.
"I really can curl them back in. There’s even a space to curl them in," Ryuk mused, chuckling.
His horns weren’t gone—rather, sent back into his head.
Closing his eyes once more, he focused on the horns, which now filled the space, and with will, they stuck out once more as Ryuk opened his eyes, touching his head to find the horns there again.
And once more, he closed his eyes and curled the horns back to the space before he opened his eyes and felt his face feeling the smoothness once more.
"I’ve gotten rid of the horns. Good. Now, all I need is reaching the Interdimensional Gates... and getting started on the Test."