Val Pov(first person point-of-view)

  I woke up, dazed and still tired, even though I had a long sleep. The war was finally going to be over. I guess you know what that means: A time to be zy. But, of course, I have to first massage the entire clinics patients wounds and injuries with warm water with abit of epsome salt. I also made pns to massage and give relief to the doctors and patients who had worked long hours.

  As I got up from the bed, I went to the bathroom to get myself ready for the day.

  I brushed my teeth, took a shower, and changed into fresh clothes to get ready for the new day.

  As i headed inside of the clinic, I saw Dr. Trauss, the lizardman, using his keen sense of smell to sense any form of decay or rot in any of the patients he had taken in. Dr. Trauss may look scary due to his lizard like appearance, lizard eyes, and rge snout, but this is simply a biological trait of his race. The man here is a gentleman who has taken in many of the soldiers and people that had defected from various factions during the war into his clinic.

  Dr. Trauss and I have a healthy friendship between us. While he is vastly older than me, I daresay perhaps in his 40s, he had been especiallly kind to me, a retively inexperienced 21 year old. He accepted my offer of helping him and the people under his care to give them massages for about a long time.

  As I approached Dr. Trauss, Dr. Trauss noticed me and greeted me warmly. "Ah, my young friend, did you get the sleep I had told you to get"

  "Yes sir, that I did. You didnt give me much of a choice you know?" I replied back with a hint of comedic humor.

  Dr. Trauss ughed. "Well, my dear boy, you didnt give us much of a choice with how much you worked. You probably at best had 2-3 hours of sleep during your travels as you traveled the nd to help any of the people to be brought to me. Of course I had to be strict with you."

  The doctor and I ughed abit before Dr. trauss paused said something to me that intrigued me. "Oh Val, did you hear? The demon king from the nation of daemina, along with his 5 wives, has offered a proposal for all nations to fund a new school thats near the tree of life. Apparently, in their words and I quote, 'For a new beginning after this horrific war, there must be a new school that accepts every student from every nation as equal so that another war doesnt happen again as soon as possible and why not that pce be near the tree of life as it is essentially the beginning of all things, knowledge, and perhaps a portion of existence itself.' Interesting choice of words dont you think Val?"

  I paused and thought calmly before replying back. "The tree of life? I thought those grounds were sacred to the world to the point that every nation before the war had agreed not to target or touch it?"

  Dr. Trauss nodded. "I know what your saying, but apparently the witch of the beginning had allowed it"

  I stand there abit stunned. "The witch agreed? What changed that beings mind?"

  Dr. Trauss shrugged before replying. "I am not sure. But the witch said that its not a bad idea and since the tree of life can't be broken or cracked down, she said its ok. Apparently, the witch had stated long before that she was open to the idea of an school opening there for a long time like-since thousand years ago. But the other nations at the time felt like it was wrong to touch to enter sacred grounds, fearing the supersition that if the tree were to be disturbed by any being, it could result in the colpse of the whole world."

  "It sounds like to me the nations were overly cautious and more scared than the witch huh," I remarked. "Really makes you think that the witch is more progressive minded than all the nations combined despite her being old fashioned, that witch really aint scared of anything"

  "She is a wise one, that one for sure" Dr. Trauss stated. "Anyway, I had heard that you pn to go and travel to the mountains abit to see if there are any remaining people there?"

  "Yes, I think its wise to go there. Who knows their may be survivors that escaped the destruction of the nation of Vitalia" I replied.

  Dr. Trauss face had a look of grim realization. "So you think its true? That rumor about 2 eldritch deities fighting against each other which resulted in the destruction of that nation?"

  "I am not sure. Its just rumors and eyewitnesses at this point. I think I heard that there was footage, but at this point I am as much in the dark just as you are in this whole ordeal."

  Dr Trauss scratched his scaly chin slowly and thoughtfully. "Hmm....then Val, its best your on your way. If there are any survivors, then its best you act quickly and retrieve them back to this clinic. Who knows? Maybe we will get confirmation officially from a survivor that there indeed was a great battle that destroyed the nation. And Val you can massage the rest of the injured and tired tomorrow, for now focus on seeing if there are any people in those mountains"

  "On it," I replied quickly and precisely before heading outside to the snowy mountains.

  It took me 4 hours to arrive to the mountains through a small vehicle driven by a settlement citizen.

  I got off the vehicle and thanked the driver before climbing on to the mountains.

  I dont know how long I had walked, but it felt like long hours even though in my mind I knew it was only under an hour.

  As I walked with great difficulty through the snowy mountains, I saw her.

  A small girl, who seems to be wearing a heavy jacket and her arms were hugging her own body to get a bit of warmth to survive in this mountain. She looked as if she was about to colpse from pure exhaustion.

  I quickly ran to her and held her body as soon as she was about to colpse. "Your safe now...your safe. Lets get you to safety okay little miss"

  As I shouted to the driver to get the vehicle ready and asked him to use abit of his fire magic to warm up the interior of the vehicle, he complied quickly and did as I asked.

  As I put the small girl inside the warm interior of the vehicle, I got out a water bottle and some warm chicken I had been given by the settlement before I left. "Hey little miss. Drink some water and eat some food. I know your sleepy right now, but a belly full of warm food and water will increase your chances of making it through this and also give you a nice sleep. Dont worry...your among friends now"

  The girl didnt reply and only listened and followed my orders. I couldnt see her head due to the jackets hoodie covering her whole head to grant the girl a bit of warmth. I didnt dare remove her hoodie, as I was afraid it would only make her colder. I saw only a glimpse of a single red eye, but I buried my curisoity beneath it all.

  "Driver, get us back home." And so the 4 hour journey back to home started.

  Little did I know that this meeting with the girl, would have changed everything in my whole future.