"Mmm…"
Pain pulsed throughout Liam's body like a hammer striking metal.
"Mmm… where am I? How long has it been? Who are you?" He tried to lift his head, but even that small movement sent a sharp spike through his skull. "My head hurts like hell…"
"Slow down there, kid." The voice was light. Almost cheerful. "You finally woke up. Thought you were dead for a second there."
Liam forced his eyes open. The ceiling above him was smooth, metallic—too clean to be a hospital, too industrial to be a house. Fluorescent lights hummed softly overhead.
"Buddy?" His voice cracked. "Who are you—and answer my goddamn question!"
The guy standing near the doorway didn't look dangerous. If anything, he looked annoyingly relaxed. Hands in his pockets. Slight grin. Like he'd been waiting for this exact moment.
"Okay, okay," the stranger said, raising both hands. "Trust me, I get it. You're currently in what we call the Leo Sage."
"Leo Sage?" Liam blinked. "What the hell is that?" He tried to sit up—and realized he couldn't. His wrists were tied. A spike of adrenaline cut through the haze in his head.
"Well," the guy continued casually, "if you'd let me finish, I was getting there. But now I'm reconsidering."
Liam stared at him. This guy's acting like he's done this before. "…Yeah. Sure. Whatever."
"Like I said," the stranger went on, pacing slightly, "you're in the Leo Sage. It's basically our base of operations. And your new home—for now."
New home? Did they kidnap me in my sleep?
"Yeah, I'll get to that part," the guy added quickly. "Anyway—it's been three whole days since you've been asleep, and—"
"THREE WHOLE DAYS?!" The room spun. "What's going on?!"
"Dude," the stranger said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "if you just let me speak and don't interrupt, I will explain."
Liam exhaled slowly. "Okay… okay."
"It's been three days since we took you in. We noticed your Divine powers—or Divines for short. And yours…" He paused, eyes sharpening for the first time. "Yours is one of a kind. Maybe even better than anyone else in the world."
Divine? Like… superpowers? His thoughts flickered wildly. Can I be like Dark Phoenix? Flames everywhere?
"Divines are abilities most people aren't born with," the guy continued. "They're rare. Gifted. But yours—yours has an aura around it."
"Aura… gift… Divine…" Liam muttered. "This is all just confusing."
"Yeah. It would be." The guy shrugged. "Easier to show you." He walked over and untied Liam's wrists. "Oh—sorry about that."
Liam rubbed his hands as feeling returned. The moment they stepped outside the room, his confusion doubled. They weren't in a house. They weren't even above ground.
Steel corridors stretched endlessly in every direction. The ceiling arched high overhead, lined with cables and reinforced beams. People moved through the halls with purpose—some in uniforms, some in casual clothes, some carrying weapons.
The space was massive. It had to be at least two hundred football fields long. (It was closer to six hundred—but Liam had no way of knowing that.)
"This place is huge," Liam muttered. "So where are we even going?"
"The training room."
"Training room?"
"Not far." The guy glanced at him. "Oh. Forgot to mention. My name's Yoso."
"Right. I'm—"
"Liam. Am I right?"
Liam froze. "How did you know that?"
"Saw it on your school ID. When you got into that fight right before we took you in."
"Wait…" Liam slowed his steps. "You've been following me?"
"Sure have. Ever since we met at the corner market."
Corner market?
"When you found that hundred-dollar bill," Yoso continued, "and tried to return it. Couldn't find the owner, so you left it at the lost and found."
Liam's stomach dropped slightly. "That was two weeks ago…"
"That's when I noticed your Divine," Yoso said. "You touched something that had Divine energy on it. Your aura reacted. It expanded."
"Expanded?"
"When you were about to fight those guys?" Yoso smirked. "Your aura was as tall as a skyscraper."
Liam swallowed. "Is that… good?"
"Can't say for sure," Yoso admitted. "But it's definitely one of a kind."
They stopped in front of a massive steel door. "Well," Yoso said, tapping a panel beside it. "Here we are."
The door slid open. The training room was enormous—like a stadium hollowed out into a metallic arena. Platforms lined the walls. The floor shifted subtly, as if sections could move independently.
"Yoooo!" Yoso shouted. "You in here, Kat?!"
A voice answered almost instantly. "I heard you for the first time."
A girl stepped down from an upper platform. Liam blinked. She looked normal—except for the tail. It curved behind her—sleek, gray-blue, unmistakably shark-like.
"…Hello," Liam said cautiously.
She studied him with sharp eyes. "What kind of Divine does he have?" she asked Yoso. "And what difficulty?"
"I've never seen one like his," Yoso replied. "And I'm pretty sure his is better than mine."
Kat raised an eyebrow. "Wait. For real? Yours is practically god-tier."
A god. Am I that powerful?
"For now," Yoso added quickly. "Until he learns control."
Kat nodded. "Medium difficulty."
The room shifted. Panels rose from the floor. Shadows gathered. Shapes began forming.
"Pick a starting position," Kat called.
"…Middle," Liam said.
"Good luck."
A mechanical voice echoed through the chamber: "3… 2… 1…"
Creatures emerged from the shadows—twisted humanoid forms with elongated limbs and glowing eyes. Liam's throat went dry. "You're telling me I have to fight those?!"
"They're easy," Kat said calmly.
"You'll be fine," Yoso added.
There were two on his left. Three on his right. Okay. Two first. Then three. He raised his fists. I guess I just… fight.
The first one lunged. Pain exploded through his ribs as he barely dodged. He swung instinctively. Something sparked in his chest—like heat pressing outward. The second creature moved faster. He was knocked down. Got up again.
Five minutes later, the creatures dissolved into fragments of light. Liam stood in the center of the arena, bruised, bleeding slightly from his lip—but standing.
"You know," Kat said from above, "I didn't expect that."
Yoso crossed his arms, smiling. "Told you. Never doubted him."
"Sure," she replied flatly.
"GUYS!" Liam shouted. "I DID IT! What do I do now?!"
Yoso walked toward him. "Now?" He smiled, calmer this time. More serious. "Now you rest. And after that… I'll explain why you're really here."
"Okay, I get it—but one question. Where is that? This place is huge," Liam said.
"Right, I forgot you're new here, but I've got somewhere to be, so Kat will help you out," Yaso replied.
"Wait—what? I didn't volunteer or anything. Why should I—" Kat started, clearly annoyed.
"Unless you want to die, be my guest," Yaso cut in.
Kat rolled her eyes and gave him a sharp look. "Fine. You don't have to be so rude about it."
"Bye-bye. See you guys later," Yaso said as he walked off.
"Yeah, see you," Liam replied.
As we walked down the hallway that never seemed to end, I started to notice how different Kat really looked compared to us. I hadn't seen it at first, probably because everything had been happening so fast, but now it was impossible to ignore—she had more animal-like features than humans.
"Hey, would you stop staring? It's rude, you know," Kat said.
"Oh—uh, sorry. That's my bad. It's just… you know…" Liam said awkwardly.
"Know what?" Kat asked.
"Well… the fact that you have a tail. As a human. You know…" Liam admitted.
"Well, get used to it, okay? Most people here are actually born like this," Kat explained.
"Wait, for real? That's super cool. I never would've known," Liam said.
"Well, just make sure you don't stare at other people like that, because they might fight you—or even worse, try to kill you," Kat warned.
"What do you mean try?" Liam asked.
"That's not for me to explain. Ask Yaso," Kat replied.
After about fifteen minutes of walking, they finally arrived at Liam's room near the cafeteria.
"Well, this is it—home sweet home, at least for now," Kat said.
"Wow… this looks really small," Liam said.
"You should at least take a look inside first," Kat replied.
Liam opened the door and froze.
"Whoa… this place is huge," he said.
From the outside, it looked like a small 5x5 room, but on the inside it was closer to 80x40, and it seemed like it stretched on forever.
"So, this is your new home," Kat said. "Let me know if you need anything. I'll be right outside for about an hour."
"Okay, thanks for letting me know," Liam replied.