"Congratulations, Vale, God of the Broken. You have emerged from Battle 001, Fatal Chess, victorious!" Osidon's voice boomed around me.
Adrenaline still surged through my body, and my back hurt from being thrown into the tree.
Thankfully, I suffered no major injuries from the bout, which surprised me when looking at Teros' form.
He was so strong, I thought to myself. How close was he to physical mastery?
If not for my having a copper sword, I would have most likely lost.
I walked past the slumped body and retrieved the copper sword from where it had emerged from the back of Teros' neck and landed stuck in the dirt.
It was a gory mess.
"Here are the reports of the battle."
I grew anxious, completely forgetting the cries I had heard earlier in the battle.
"Out of the 12 units you sent into battle, all have remained alive, though Paulo suffers a broken leg."
One of the new men was injured.
I let out a sigh of relief. The broken leg was, of course, inconvenient, but it was a much greater outcome than a life lost.
"Next, out of the 3 units that Teros brought into battle, one was killed, the other two rendered unconscious."
Only Three!
Suddenly it all made sense to me. Not only did the god bluff, but it was an incredible one.
Knowing that his people had no chance at beating mine, he planned to sacrifice them, while he flanked the center and took me out.
Although I couldn't respect it, I had to acknowledge that he had put it all on the line and trusted in his combat skills.
Unfortunately for him, they did not prove to be good enough.
He truly was a foolhardy god.
"Your units will wait where they are, head over and check on them while we prepare your rewards at Unus... Good name choice by the way," Osidon said, as I sheathed my blade and headed to my disciples.
---
My men and women were exactly where I placed them, at the bottom of the hill. There were no signs of Teros' men.
Drage lay on the floor, while Floress made a makeshift splint to hold his leg in place.
His screams had subsided, though the pain was still evident in his face.
As my people saw me, they rushed over, noticing the blood that had splattered onto my garments.
"Are you hurt, Great Vale?" Sera asked in a worried tone. The others watched with anxiety in their eyes.
I flashed them a smile. I was happy to see most of my people uninjured, and I would do it all again if it meant that I could place the burden of danger on myself, rather than them.
"I am fine, do not worry yourselves," I said, my voice calm as I looked around.
"Who was it that killed one of their men?" I asked, curious.
Zerlos stepped forward with his hand raised.
"Unfortunately, it was me, Great Vale. He advanced on us, despite the odds being stacked heavily against him. I made sure he did not suffer too much."
I nodded to him to show that I approved. He must have been feeling guilty, but I was happy that he had acted to protect the lives of our people.
I will remember this.
We spent the rest of the time talking as we waited for Osidon to complete his delivery of the awards.
Finally, after a while, we were ordered to sit, and were sent back to our world, Unus.
---
We all appeared in the crimson fields, standing grouped up, and we took in the changes that had been made to our world.
Firstly, there was another of the large houses that could hold ten people inside.
Outside of the house sat ten new people, who upon seeing us made their way over.
There were so many new faces, half men and half women.
Based on introductions, none stood out to me, except for one.
There was a young boy, black-skinned with long dreadlocks similar to Laomi's, though they were white. He was a tiny boy, somewhere around the age of 14.
The sight of the boy was a reality check to me.
Not only did I now look after twenty-two humans, but one of them was a child.
I am somewhat of a parent now, I suppose?
Or perhaps I already have been, my children just grown adults.
I laughed to myself.
When the boy introduced himself as Zavid, I rubbed my hand on his head in a friendly gesture.
"It is a pleasure to have you here with us, my child."
The next thing that was drawn to my attention was my new home.
It was built like a church back on Earth, much larger than the other buildings of Unus.
It was made from stone and stood much taller than it was wide.
Outside the double doors that led inside, an engraving on a stone slab read: Home of Vale.
It felt too grand to live in such a place. Back on Earth, I slept in a single-roomed apartment. And during my time spent in Unus, I simply slept on the grass when I felt tired, which had only been once.
Inside the palace was a sort of lounge area, with arrays of soft chairs surrounding a large table.
There were also doors to many rooms, and even a staircase to a second floor.
The room that stood out to me most was the training room, which had dummies, punching bags, and an archery range, all crammed into a small space.
The only other room I would perhaps find myself using frequently was my chambers. A simple room but with a large double bed at its center. It also had a desk and a mirror, which was strange as I hardly ever looked at myself, besides when the waters reflected my face back to me.
My hair had begun to grow longer, which was strange as it had only been a week.
Clearly a trait of godhood.
From my chambers, there was a window where I could look down upon the crimson fields.
The sun shone down on all twenty-two of my disciples as they engaged in chatter.
It seemed that the newcomers were listening intently to those that I brought with me to battle.
I focused my senses, closing my eyes to increase the quality of my hearing.
"We did not see the battle, but what we are certain of is that Great Vale, praise to his name, slayed a god for our sake. He is truly worthy of following."
The words warmed my heart, and I saw the faces of the newcomers lighting up with admiration for a god they hardly knew.
Regardless, I felt truly appreciated.
My mind attempted to drift to the loss of Teros, but I could not allow myself to feel saddened at his death, regardless of the fact that he was forced into such a situation.
After all, it was either his death, or mine and my disciples'. Such a decision was easy to make.
Overall, I was content with the way things were playing out. Unus would become a prosperous world, I would make sure of it.
No matter what difficulties came our way, I had to put trust in my capabilities as a god.
And to do so, I had to become stronger.