Mmm...

A pain as if I were lying on a bed of broken glass, whose shards were digging into my back, woke me.

An infernal headache, no, not just that. My whole body, with even the slightest movement, gave me indescribable pain.

Lying there for a moment, I thought, what am I doing here?... Where am I?

Like a flood, the memories of the fight, Luke, Lauryel, Orian, and the townspeople, running to escape, came rushing back. Generating an even more painful headache.

How the hell...? I shouldn't be...

As I sat up in bed as best I could, cutting my thoughts short, I noticed the absence of my arm.

Remembering clearly the fierce battle against the angel, a battle I fought alongside Luke.

Right! Luke, how is he? What happened to him? How much time had passed since the battle against the angel?

With only the ability to squeeze my head with my hand in search of answers, footsteps suddenly stole my attention. Lifting my face, I observed where I was: a wooden house, an extinguished fire pit in the center, and a covered pot just above it.

But what caught my attention was the person standing near the entrance, which only had a curtain as a door. An elderly man, about 80 years old I'd guess, dressed in a kind of dark brown robe, stood there with a surprised expression on his face.

"Hello...?" I said without thinking much.

The man, snapping out of his shock and blinking several times, said, "I didn't think you'd wake up so soon," in a hoarse voice.

Thinking about what to say as the old man walked around the house preparing some kind of mixture in a bowl, I noticed.

"Who are you? Where am I—" I was about to finish when he suddenly placed the bowl right in front of my face, cutting me off in surprise.

"First of all, drink this," the old man said.

Holding the bowl, observing its contents that looked like animal slime, I hesitated to drink it.

Wait a moment, I don't know this old man at all, why should I?

"Relax, if I wanted to harm you, I would have already done so," the old man said, scratching his beard nonchalantly.

That was an irrefutable fact; he could even kill me in my current state if he wanted to.

Drinking the substance in one gulp, which tasted bitter, I looked at the old man and asked again, "Where are we, and who are you?"

The old man sat on the edge of the bed and sighed as he said, "Relax, kid. For now, we're in my house, and as for the place... you could say we're far enough away from where I found you. By the way, my name is Ceres, but everyone calls me Balak," Balak finished.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ceres, my name is—" I was about to finish but was interrupted by the old man Ceres, "Shyn, I know, kid, and call me Balak, no honorifics, those you can give to the dead."

Huh? How does he know my name? Who the hell is this old man? Before I could even say anything more, Balak continued.

"You see, kid, you might think I'm just an old geezer, but I'm actually very strong," Balak said. Noticing my doubtful expression.

My mind was filling with questions every moment as Balak continued.

"Let me explain everything," Balak said.

After what seemed like a couple of hours, Balak had explained everything, or so I think. I had been asleep for about 15 days after Balak found me where I fought the angel; it was a coincidence, he said.

He also said that he came there after feeling a familiar energy, finding the place in ruins and me half-dead.

I asked if there was anyone else there besides me, but he said there was only me and a large sword.

"For now, I recommend you rest. Your body is still messed up, I expected you to wake up in about a month," Balak finished.

But in my mind, I only had one question... familiar energy? What did he mean by that? While thinking about that and how everyone was doing, how Lauryel was doing.

Luke, I hope he's okay and managed to reach the others...

Waking up, as a ray of sunlight shone into my eye, this time without any pain, I could say, only with pains I considered bearable.

I got out of bed and stood up when I tried to take a step, I suddenly lost strength. Holding onto the wall to avoid falling, I continued supported and reached the entrance of the house, and upon stepping outside, I found a beautiful landscape. Just like that, I described it; it was just a green pasture that stretched into the distance without a visible end.

Looking around, I saw Balak, wielding a sword like the one Luke had, only it was two large swords turned into one, joining the handles together.

Each movement was strong but silent, with a single swing sending waves of wind that seemed to have the force of a punch... Impressive, only that word described what I was seeing.

"I must say, I'm impressed with how quickly you're recovering; look at you walking after being bedridden for almost two and a half weeks, you're really not a normal human," Balak said while wielding his sword without any distraction, even while talking.

"Hey, where are we? I understand 'far enough away,' but how far are we from where you found me?" I asked.

"Well, specifically, we're not in any place, or how could I say this, we're in my resting dimension," Balak said, while I stared blankly at his crazy answer.

"Wait a second," I said incredulously. "What does that mean?" I asked again.

"It's simple, I created a dimension and brought us here, period," Balak said.

"Wait, Balak, I really appreciate you saving me and everything, but I need to go back to my world; I still have to go back to my sister and loved ones," I said.

"Mmm, I'm not taking you there, not yet," Balak said while still wielding his sword.

Furious and still with my aching body, I could only watch Balak frustrated.

"Listen, kid, I don't know what you've been through, but if I know anything, it's that you fought and were separated from your family, as you say," Balak said as he drove his sword into the ground, making the ground rumble from its weight. While the old man Balak grew to a height of about two meters, only now he wasn't an old man but an adult of about 40 years old with an extremely muscular body.

"You see, Shyn, my name is Ceres Balak Diuns, a demigod in the service of the deity known as Nayn, who gave me the mission to train the possessor of the blood of the ancient god of war, and that's you," Balak said.

"I know it's not easy to assimilate everything that's happening in such a short time after waking up from a fight that left you on the verge of death, but my mission is that, and I will fulfill it, so until I finish training you, you will be here with me, understand?" Balak finished saying with an authority that made me feel short of breath every time he spoke due to the pressure he exerted.

After thinking things through, still knowing nothing, I had no choice but to follow Balak's orders. If I took advantage of this opportunity, I could be strong enough to eliminate the bastards of the angels. I just hope my sister Luke and the others managed to reach Laura.

Meanwhile, I must make myself strong enough to protect what I love, and this was the perfect opportunity, even though I knew nothing about why it was me or why I had the blood of a god, I suppose the answers will come in due time, I just hope that in this time my sisters find each other and protect themselves from any danger.