In what felt like an instant, he woke up, laying down in an extremely comfortable bed.
He sat up groggily, looking around the room. The walls were made of the same pale-yellow stone he had seen when he had first arrived, though it was barren and lacked the carvings he had seen outside.
There were two cut outs in the left wall, acting like windows, allowing a breeze to come in and for him to see the clear blue sky of the afternoon. He could see the towers of the houses outside were at eye-level, meaning he was pretty high up.
On the right side of the room was a simple shelf that seemed to be a part of the wall. On its top shelf, he could see a familiar crate. And a few paces away from the shelf was a doorway. Though, he wasn't sure how the door would open. It seemed to be a part of the wall too.
Looking down, he saw that the bed was made out of some sort of beast hide, and that it was stitched together using some sort of twine.
He came to the conclusion that it was a water bed, after shifting his weight here and there. Additionally, he also saw that the floor seemed to be tiled with the same pale-yellow stone. Or rather, carved to look like it was tiled?
As the grogginess subsided, he realized something.
"The pain is gone?" he asked himself out loud.
He shot up off the bed, and did some stretches.
He even jumped and did some shadow-boxing, and yet he felt like nothing was amiss physically.
For the first time in three months, he wasn't in god awful pain.
However, he noticed something odd… It was as if the happiness he felt from being freed of the chronic pain was dull… Far less vibrant than he would've expected it to be. Like there was a thick blanket smothering his emotions.
It was strange, but he quickly thought of an explanation that seemed reasonable.
'Must be a side effect of whatever treatment I was given to feel better…'
He then let out a brief snort.
'So in exchange for physical pain, I get to experience medically induced depression…'
'...'
'Fuck it, we ball.'
He casually went over to his crate as he wrapped those thoughts up, sifting through his belongings before pulling out some tasseled gray pants and a tight navy-blue shirt. He was, for some reason, naked right now.
So, putting on clothes seemed to be a good idea. And put them on he did, casually of course. He was pretty sure there wasn't a rush.
But afterwards, he began doing his stretching routine. One he had learned from his time as part of the track team in his last life.
His body felt immeasurably stiff since had been unable to do much for the past three months, after all.
And after finishing his stretches, he sat back down on the bed with a clear mind.
There wasn't much to do, so of course, his mind began to wander once more. And so of course, his mind went to the image of the orc of the Demon Clan. He had been constantly thinking about it.
'In that moment, it was either my life or his life that would've been taken...'
He stretched his hands up and fell back onto the bed.
He couldn't help but feel a little strange. He couldn't help but empathize with that orc's last moments. He didn't want to experience that primal fear ever again, and he didn't want to inflict it upon others.
Yet, what choice did he have if he was put into such a scenario again? That orc's death was a freak accident, sure… But the next time something like that happened… What would he do then?
'Beat them into submission, I guess?' he thought, thinking of a fictional martial artist with spiky black hair and an orange gi.
Suddenly, putting a stop to his thoughts, the pale-yellow stone slab within the doorframe was seemingly swallowed by the ground.
"Ah, you're awake. Welcome home, Mikhail."
An old, tan woman with a wrinkly face walked in. She was short, and had long unruly white hair. It was combed back and held down and out of her face using a cloth band with a striped pattern.
She wore brown robes that had golden embroidery on it, looking sort of like the carvings that could be found in the structures outside.
And her voice was befitting of a kind grandma.
She supported herself with a wooden cane in her left hand, and carried a large black box adorned in golden filigree in her other arm.
"Are you the Grand Elder I've heard so much about on my way here?" Mikhail said while sitting up.
"Yes, that's right, young one. My name is Maya. Grab your crate and follow me, please. We have much to discuss."
He nodded and got up. But before he followed the old woman out of the room, he put on his leather caligae and then picked up his crate. And then after that, he left the room.
The Grand Elder stomped her foot on the ground once he was out, causing the pale-yellow stone to shoot up out of the ground with a rumble. It crashed against the roof of the doorway, yet no debris or broken stone fell.
"This way," she said while turning to the left.
The hallway, despite having no window cutouts to speak of, or lanterns, was as bright as the outdoors under the afternoon sun.
There were shining silver lines on the ceiling and a few bands of those lines on the walls. He looked around as he followed the Grand Elder, entranced by the beauty of those mystical markings.
After following her up a square-like stairwell, the pair crossed halfway down another hallway before turning to the left into yet another hallway. Mikhail guessed that she was leading him towards the central part of the building, and he was right.
The two came before a huge double door. It was at least ten meters tall and twenty meters wide, though it was curved to become an arch towards the top.
"Hey uh, how are you supposed to open this thing?" Mikhail asked in confusion.
It was way too big for any human sized entity to open. It looked to weigh at least several tons with just the size, and that wasn't even factoring in the material that seemed to be made out of gold, a very dense metal.
"Easy. Like this."
The old woman tucked the extravagant box under her left arm, before walking up to the door and gently pushing it open. A loud metallic creek resounded throughout the building as the door opened.
After a few seconds the gap between the two doors was wide enough for them to step through side by side, yet Mikhail stood outside the door still.
'It's really that easy?'
He walked up to the still closed door and pushed on it lightly, and felt that it didn't budge. He slowly increased the amount of strength he was putting against the door, until he had put his crate down and pushed with all his might, his feet sliding against the ground as he continued to try.
It was impossible!
'How strong is this old lady?!' he thought when turning to face her again.
The Grand Elder snorted, easily guessing what was going on in the youngster's mind.
"You done?"
"Yeah…" he said with a dejected tone.
He then picked his crate off the ground and followed her past the door.
Inside, he saw a mesmerizing sight.
It was like being in a planetarium, constellations and different stars shining down with various lights from the glossy black roof. At that point, he realized he was inside of the cathedral-like structure he had noticed previously.
The spacious area's walls were covered by bookshelves, filled to the brim with books. The floor of the room was made out of some sort of gold veined marble that seemed to radiate white light, further illuminating the room.
There was a large circular red carpet at the center of the entire room, with many different yellow seating mats placed down on it. On the far side of the carpet was one mat that the rest seemed to be arranged around.
Behind it was a large backpack.
The Grand Elder walked over to that far side mat and beckoned Mikhail to sit across from her. Once they were both situated, sitting with their legs crossed, the Grand Elder finally got down to business.