"Kiss my ass!" Sage shouted as he weaved under a massive fist that went through the air where his head had been a second before.
The sunny grass field stretched wide around them, green and open under a clear blue sky. Sage's four arms moved in rhythm as he darted forward, two fists jabbing at the giant's ribs while the other two blocked. The giant, easily twice Sage's height, grunted and swung down with both hands clasped together like a hammer.
Sage rolled to the side, grass stains smearing across his shoulder. He sprang up and launched a flurry of punches, all four fists blurring as they connected with the giant's torso. The impacts echoed like drums.
The giant barely flinched. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and grinned. "You punch like my grandma."
Sage skidded back, breathing hard but smirking. "Your grandma must pack a hell of a punch then."
The giant chuckled, a deep rumble in his chest. Then Sage noticed a thin line of blood trickling from the corner of the giant's mouth. His eyes widened slightly, distracted for just a heartbeat.
That was all it took.
The giant's hand shot out and grabbed Sage by the torso, lifting him clean off the ground. Sage's arms flailed, trying to break free, but the grip was iron.
The giant's grin faded into something more serious. "She did."
Before Sage could respond, the giant twisted his whole body and hurled him across the field. Sage's eyes went wide as he flew through the air, wind roaring in his ears. He hit the ground hard twenty feet away, tumbling through the grass before finally skidding to a stop on his back.
He groaned, staring up at the bright sky, all four arms sprawled out around him. "...Damn."
His view of the sky was blocked when Bestian, the giant, came into view, blocking the sunlight. He offered his hand.
Sage took it and dusted himself off with his other arms. "Ahh, I think you broke my back."
"It'll heal," Bestian said with a sigh.
And sure enough, it did. A crack sounded from Sage's back as he stretched. Despite the pain of his self-healing, Sage had one thing on his mind—the blood.
See, Bestian wasn't just any being. When he first came to this pocket realm, he thought he'd found treasure. But he was trapped instead, and found an egg. That egg cracked, and out came Sage.
Unfortunately, the realm was inescapable, leaving Bestian—a being as strong as gods, his words—trapped and raising a four-armed brat. From the moment Sage could walk, they started training. That's how physically capable he was.
But despite all their time together, Sage had landed blows that would blow normal humans' heads clean off. On Bestian, they did nothing. Not once had he ever drawn blood. Of course, on his side, he'd bled plenty of times.
'Is he okay?' He looked at the giant.
"You're bleeding."
He saw a distant look cross Bestian's face. "I think it's time," he said as he walked off toward a nearby cliff and sat down, his legs dangling over the edge.
"Time for what?" Sage followed him.
"It's a beautiful day today."
"It's always day here. Come on, don't ignore my question. Is it because you're bleeding? Hey, maybe I'm getting stronger. I've been—"
His words stopped when he heard Bestian speak.
"To die."
"What?"
"Sage, I haven't been telling you this, but ever since I stepped foot in this realm, my life force has been feeding it. Getting less and less. And with it, my strength has been getting weaker. I could—"
"What?" Sage didn't understand any of this. All this time he thought he was getting better in their fights, that he was getting stronger. But all it meant was that Bestian was getting weaker.
'Why... why hadn't he told me?'
He managed to say his thoughts out loud. "Why... why didn't you tell me?"
Bestian smiled and patted Sage on the back. "And what would that have achieved? You're not strong enough. It would only be a burden on your mind."
"But why now?"
"As I said, I think it's time to die."
"No, I mean why do you think that? You look healthy. You don't have to die. We can keep training. We can leave."
"I can't. And if I stay longer, it would be selfish of me. My death destroys this realm, and the destruction of this realm means my death."
"But—"
"I've lived a long life, Sage. There's no need to pity me. I've had my time. You have yet to live. Experience life in its fullest."
Sage looked down. All his arms tensed, hands clenched into fists. 'Why... why... why...'
Seeing the expression on Sage's face, Bestian suddenly laughed to break the tension and slapped his back. "Ahahahaha, you should be happy! Once you get out of here, you can try mead. Actually, I have a better idea—with four arms, you can find four wives, one for each arm! Hahaha!"
Sage couldn't help but smile, despite the sadness remaining in his eyes. "It doesn't work like that."
"How would you know? Ahahaha, you've never even seen a woman!"
Sage ignored the shots and asked, "Is there no way? Maybe I can stay and you leave."
Bestian lost his smile and stood up. "No. It's decided. You have to live. I have a goal for you, Sage. See, I wish I could send you to a certain world, but my memories are one of the things this realm began eating. Hence why I told you many stories. One of the memories lost are coordinates to a world. But I have a friend who knows all too well about traveling between worlds. Too well, actually. As for his whereabouts, that I can do. But I need you to do something for me. He's trapped in a similar realm like this, but different and weaker. With my power, you can survive it and get out safe."
Sage listened. 'He's really serious.' A part of him had hoped maybe Bestian was playing a joke and would suddenly punch him, sending him flying while saying don't be distracted by anything. But no, he was really serious.
"I was going to give you a treasure of mine, but when you came out of that egg, you kind of ate your shell and the treasure."
"Treasure?"
"Oh, don't worry. It's seven hearts of defeated enemies of mine. It won't harm you. Even if it doesn't benefit you much, surviving this realm's collapse does more. So come on."
Bestian stood tall, his blue skin lit by the sun. He put his hand on Sage's head and ruffled his hair like he was a child. Sage looked seventeen at the moment, as for if he actually was seventeen, that was debatable. Time moved differently in this realm.
"Stand still. I'm about to give you all my power."
Sage nodded. His eyes couldn't help but blur.
"Ahhh!" Bestian's eyes suddenly glowed.
Sage felt his head hurt and saw a storm building up. 'How?' Ever since he'd been born, he had seen nothing but sun.
Dark clouds gathered as rain fell. He caught it in his palm. 'So beautiful.' Thunder struck, but not once did he flinch. When he cracked from that egg, another thing Bestian had mentioned was that he had swallowed a storm. Not sure how one could swallow weather, Sage never questioned it.
He looked at Bestian, who was smiling at him. Suddenly he coughed blood and fell to his knees. "Ahh, the deterioration is accelerating."
He coughed once more. "Look, Sage, I won't place conditions or restrictions on you, or the power I give you. So live a life this place could not give you, that I could not. You made this old bastard experience something greater than any of my billion battles ever did. I thank you for that. So I want you to live however you want. I want you to grow stronger and fight, make friends and explore the world. So—" *cough* "—so when you reach my position, you can die or live with no regrets."
Sage's face was wet—unsure if from rain or tears, but from his red eyes it was clear there were tears. Suddenly he gasped as he watched Bestian, the strongest being he had ever met, the only being he had ever met, getting older and older.
While before he wasn't youthful-looking, he had looked young despite his age. Now he aged rapidly.
"And Sage... don't ever, ever trust a god. We're all selfish and dangerous bastards in our own way."
Sage had said no words in a long while. He just didn't know what to say, but in his mind it was turmoil.
'Ahhhhhhhhhh!'
He watched as Bestian's body rose, standing as his skin began to turn to ash. As he did, Sage looked up and saw the sky splitting as if the world was being destroyed.
He looked back, and a golden skeleton stood before him.
Around them, the realm began tearing itself apart. The grass withered to ash. The cliff cracked and chunks fell into nothingness. The fractured sky leaked darkness that ate at their world.
Sage felt the realm's death clawing at him. His skin burned where the collapsing space touched him. Blood ran from his ears and nose as reality came undone.
The golden skeleton placed one bony hand on Sage's forehead. The last of Bestian's power flowed into him, and with it came coordinates to another world, burned into his mind.
Sage's vision went black as the pain became too much. The golden skeleton crumbled to dust. Then the realm's collapse took him into darkness, and he knew nothing more.