"I'm not dead?"
He rubbed his hand on his chest in a circular motion... the spot where the knife stabbed him. He could still feel the pain from the piercing, but the sting in his ear and the dizziness distracted him from it.
The loud noise made him very dizzy.
It was from that sound. That loud sound that resembled...
...A bell?
Before he could complete his thoughts, it aired again, causing him to shriek silently in that position he lay.
What was that?
Where am I? He thought, moving his eyes slowly to the direction where the loud sound came from.
Something very huge that had the texture of an iron cast...
It was just beside him. So large that it covered his entire left side and approximately everywhere he eyes trailed to.
Was this the... Bell?
He furrowed in confusion, trying to wrap his head around his environment.
What was this place? He questioned.
But before he could figure out his thoughts, he heard the loud thumping. Followed by the loud creaking of wood caused by the weight of heftiness.
Something was moving...
It sounded like footsteps.
Huge footsteps.
Causing him to jolt up, still in that laid position, but his head was raised up in a way, like a curved banana, resting his back on the wooden wall behind.
By his right was a large window which he just saw when he shuffled up in search of his weapon in defence. It was a reflex – he didn't know what was coming, so he needed to be ready.
In height comparison, the widow was the height of a flat.
And from that window, he could see other towering buildings just opposite the one he was in. Buildings with exquisite structures he had never seen before.
More elegant than the buildings in Astheimoth. Larger too.
In curiousity, he took his eyes up allowing them to run along the structures of the walls, then higher.
The first thing they caught was the humongous rope which came to view. The rope resembled the ones they usually used when they imprisoned monsters ten times an average human back in Astheimoth.
The ropes held the huge bell still.
Even though he didn't see the other sides or buttom of the bell, he could tell it was below.
So if he only saw the top of it, that means he was at the top of the building.
In other words, he was in...
...A bell tower?
Suddenly, the footsteps became louder, and closer and he panicked. He felt so weak and was still very much confused. He also had no weapon with him to stall time for an escape.
No Unguis by his side, or even a regular sword. Nothing.
How was he supposed to live?
Slowly, with a gentle creak, the footsteps came to a halt.
It seemed as though it had opened a door, and had stepped into the same space as him. Probably behind the vast bell.
Someone was in there with him.
He could hear the loud breathing, so it meant that it was a larger person. The frustrated grunts the person waffed into the air was what he didn't understand. But what he didn't know was that the person he hid from, already knew that he was there.
Without wasting much time, the deep voice released a sigh.
"Get your ass up, wacko, go get tough".
The frustration on the man's tone was so evident. It sounded as though this was a regular occurrence. With a tone like that, it didn't seem like this was the first time they had been in this situation.
Were his words directed at him? Val thought.
So if he was talking to him does that mean he was familiar with him?
Before Val could comprehend his thoughts, the man started moving again. As if in an ascending order. Like climbing stairs.
There was a stairway?
Thump Thump Thump was all he could hear until a humongous figure peeked from the side of the huge bell by his side, then strolled further foward.
It was then he realized the space before him, large enough for one to take ten steps.
The man stood.
So tall and huge but not a giant. Just a big man with a face so round, the mass of his brown beards covering half his face.
His eyes were a bit doe-ish and a little bit soft, with a normal sized nose suitable for his face.
He wore an odd colored clothe that resembled the color of a sac, tailored with unfamiliar seams, but it emulated the rhythms of a coat. A long coat.
He didn't look familiar.
He had never seen a face like that before.
Slowly, the big man strolled nearer to take a closer look at him, becoming larger and larger with every step he took, as Val jolted in reflex.
Upon nearing him, the man stared at the figure curved on the floor with so much pity.
There was this look of familiarity he gave... as though he had known him for so long.
And then as fast as the flick of light, the emotions he had in his eyes were gone, replaced with a very cold uninterested stare, ending it with a just-a-regular-monday shrug.
"It's another day of school, boy". His deep voice echoed louder now. "Go out there".
What?
School?
After passing his message, the huge man casually strolled away. Thumping down the stairs he came up with.
What did he mean by school?
Wait, how did he know who he was?
With wide eyes, Val hurried up on his feet, rushing after the huge man, taking the same direction the man took.
His eyes moved down the stairs first, before his body followed.
He didn't have time to care about the uniqueness of the place because he wanted to catch up to the man.
He saw the door the man has just strolled out of and pushed it open.
"Hey! Wait...".
But as he ran out of the door to the next room, or rather, a hallway just outside the door, the heavy force of a huge metal slammed the back of his head with so much force, it drove him straight to the other side, knocking him half conscious with the buzzing inside his head.
... Ah.. Hah...
His head spun from the impact as the voices of laughter erupted from figures he could barely see.
They surrounded him.