I lay in the bed as I open my eyes. My back pains, theres an ache in my shoulder. As I look around I notice a hazy figure standing near me.
"You did well. The fight I mean."
I glance at the figure saying these words. The blurry face becomes clear as I squint. Its TaRun.
"The fight? Oh yes. I was unsure if I would come out alive. Is Ester okay? Aah... quite painful"
"There is a strain in your back. Which is why you are here. In the hospital. Ester is waiting outside."
"She's okay? And Rock?"
"They are fine. You can rest without worry.. It is not everyday one gets to be a patient in the best hospital of the megalopolis of New Atlantic. You need to heal and Franz as well."
"Franz? He's here?"
"Yes. And in bad shape. Took a beating. If you hadn't intervened..."
"Will he be alright?"
"Time will tell."
That person saved us. If not for him we wouldn't be alive.
"But why did he come to save us?"
"You guys are humans. Capable of becoming the strongest warriors in this world. It is natural different forces, good and bad start to show interest in you."
So we humans are destined to be strong.
"Why were we brought into this world?"
"Haha... you are too curious. Rest now."
A few days later, I am finally able to get up on my feet. The pain is still there but I can walk. I glance out the window. This hospital building is pretty high. I can't even see the street below. The surrounding buildings are really tall. This is amazing. New Atlantic looks breathtaking.
I should pay Franz a visit. I walk out of the room. As TaRun said his room was probably two rooms to the right. No. 3147. Is he getting better?
"...104, 105, ..."
Franz is not there in the bed, he is instead doing pushups on the ground .
"Thats a good push up count, specially since I heard you were as good as dead."
"Thanks for saving me. But don't underestimate my strength. I am a 4d."
A 4d? Yes. The chant I said to power up was also a 4d fighter chant. It was a pretty strong powerup.
"The 4d fighters. Who are you guys?"
"We are the 4d fighters. A faction of warriors akin to the mercenaries found in your home. We can be recognized by our signature black armor... And we have a proposition for you. TaRun insists I only speak about it at the shrine."
Hmm... A proposition? What does he have in mind? What is all this about? Only time will tell.
Today's the day I am released from the hospital. Its surely gonna be fun. Ester and Rock arrive to meet up with me.
" I was worried about you." Ester says. "I have heard that you received serious injuries."
"Its great to see you friend. You fought against a dragon. And you came out alive. That is really cool." Rock says.
"Yeah. You helped save lives that day." Ester blushes as she says that.
Yeah. Guess I am in the spotlight right now. After all I saved Ester and Franz.
"But lets talk not about that for now. I have booked us a car that will take us around New Atlantic." Rock jumped.
"You mean, I get to see more of this beautiful city. I am in for that."
The car has arrived. It is a flying car with advanced security features. We are protected in it. The driver will cruise us around the city.
"City is really vast. Its bigger than the ones back home."
"Yeah. Never fails to amaze." Rock says.
I got to visit several locations in the city and took dinner at an exquisite restaurant.
At the restaurant, as we finish our dinner, we are interrupted by a person.
"Hello. If I am not mistaken, you guys are humans. My name is Svedanil. I invite you to the shooting range in the New City Resort."
"A shooting range?" Rock is excited.
"Yes. And I want to show you how inferior your skills are compared to my students'."
"That is insensitive."
"It is the truth. And you will have to accept it. The gods will have to accept it."
"If I remember right, it is the resort booked by TaRun." Ester says.
"I will drive you to the New City Resort." the driver said.
"Its time for us to rest at the New City Resort. The higher ups have booked the resort for us." Rock informs. "TaRun has arranged a meeting for us tomorrow."
"Yes. Important people will arrive tomorrow. It seems they have matters to discuss." Ester says.
I go to bed early as tomorrow we have an important meeting.
The day of the meeting...
This is a nice place to be. The resort looks fancy. There is some time to the meeting so we decide to take a stroll. The security has been beefed up and its turned into a fortress of sorts. They want no kinds of interference today.
Since there is some time we decide to go to the shooting range Svedanil mentioned.
"Welcome. You are here to test your skills against ours. I will provide you the firearms for the test. You will only use these weapons and not your own."
We are given guns and swords.
"I want to test the entire skillset of humans against my students, hence you are given these weapons."
So we fight with all our moves. But what point is this old guy trying to make?
"What do you want to prove, Svedanil?"
"This fight will give an answer to the question, is it worth snapping humans into our world?"
"Snapping humans? What do you mean?"
TaRun intervened "They dont have time for this and there is no need of any test. They still have a lot of training left. Come students, with me."
"What was he saying? About his students being stronger than us?"
"Not now. You will have your answers later. In the meeting."