Chapter 3 - A Strange Morning

Author's Preface

Yeol, Cheng, and Wu Jin stood outside Blue's door as his body slowly began to lower back onto the bed. The blue barrier began to fade as Blue opened his eyes. He noticed the pendant floating just a few feet above him. The chain that had held it around his neck was snapped. He reached his hand into the air to grab it as it began to shake violently in his hand. The pendant began to burn his hand, he let go and In the next moment, the pendant began to spin violently and fold in on itself and vanished into thin air.

Blue sat up and grabbed his head. "What the hell? Where did the pendant go? Was that all real? Ahhh, my fricken head hurts. Feels like Wu Jin beat me while I was sleeping." Blue rubbed his eyes as he kicked his feet over the edge of the bed. He slowly lifted his head to look around for any sign of the pendant and noticed a translucent figure standing in front of him. His eyes moved upward from the man's feet, which were covered in sandals. The hanfu he wore hung low around his ankles. Blue lifted his head farther, noticing the figure had his arms crossed, with each hand resting inside the opposite sleeve of his hanfu. As his gaze continued upward, a long beard came into view, followed by a smiling mouth that stretched into an ear-to-ear grin. Wrinkles adorned the man's face, long, bushy eyebrows stretched across his forehead, and long hair flowed down his back.

Blue rubbed his eyes again, then slapped himself across the cheek with an open palm. He opened his eyes, and the figure was still there, still smiling. Blue slowly stood and stared at the figure for a few moments. Then he leaped forward with his arms spread wide. Blue passed straight through the translucent figure and fell hard onto the floor. The figure laughed as Blue's door flew open and Wu Jin, Yeol, and Cheng rushed into the room.

"Blue, are you okay?"

Blue lay on the floor. "You guys don't see that?"

Cheng tilted his head and looked around the room. "See what?"

"That!" Blue pointed.

Wu Jin knelt down and offered his hand to Blue. "Blue, there's nothing there. What happened earlier?"

Blue took his hand and stood to his feet. "What do you mean, what happened earlier? What are you talking about? I was sleeping."

Yeol stepped forward. "Nephew, you weren't sleeping. You were floating in midair. That pendant was floating above you and had cast some kind of spell around you."

Blue closed his eyes and shook his head. "So it wasn't a dream."

"What wasn't a dream?"

"Nothing, I'll explain it at later. Can I have a moment here alone to process everything? It's all been a blur since I was tossed through the gate."

"Of course." Wu Jin nodded. "We'll be at the dining hall when you're ready."

Blue waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks."

Wu Jin, Yeol, and Cheng walked out and closed the door behind them. Blue waited until he could no longer hear their footsteps before moving. He reached his hand out to touch the man standing before him. His hand passed through the figure again. He shook his head. "Nope. Absolutely not. This isn't real." Blue turned to sit on his bed.

"It is absolutely real... grandson."

Blue stopped dead in his tracks. "Gr... grandfather... it really is you."

Yoryeon began laughing. "It is so good to finally be able to talk to you."

"Wait, what is happening right now? How are you here? What do you mean by finally?"

Just then, Blue's door flew open. Jinhu came flying through the doorway and tripped over his own feet, he slid scross the floor and landed face first at Blue's feet. Ilho followed shortly behind, tripping over Jinhu's feet and landing on top of him.

Jinhu rolled over and threw Ilho off him. He pushed himself onto his knees. "OH MY, BLUE! CHECK THIS SHIT OUT!"

Jinhu jumped up and opened a system screen and plopped down on the bed next to Blue. "You see this, right? It says I have an Earth Core!" Jinhu poked his belly. "I was taking a number two, and my stomach started hurting really bad. I just assumed I ate too much jerky. Then BAM! This screen appeared and said I had a second core and awakened an Earth Core." Jinhu stopped talking, his gaze slowly shifting toward something in front of him. In a split second, he drew his fist back and jabbed forward. Qi flew from his fist, shot past Ilho's head, and crashed into Blue's wall.

"What the hell, Jinhu?" Ilho sat up. "You almost took off my he-" Ilho stopped mid sentence.

"Wait, you two can see him?"

Jinhu and Ilho both nodded without saying a word.

Yoryeon laughed. "Of course they can. If I allow it, that is. They are your best friends, are they not? I have watched you two grow alongside Blue for quite some time."

Blue covered his face with his hand. "Okay, seriously, what the hell is going on?"

Ilho sat on the other side of Blue and reached his hand out to touch Yoryeon. He waved it around a few times as he watched his hand pass straight through him. "Ummm, Blue. Who is this?"

Blue sighed. "Fuuuuck. Um, yeah, this is Yoryeon. My grandfather. At least I think it is."

Jinhu looked between Blue and Yoryeon a few times. "You mean the guy Yong Ma told us about? That Yoryeon? Your grandfather who died? Former patriarch? That Yoryeon?"

Ilho leaned over. "How many Yoryeons do you know, idiot?"

Blue ignored the two and stared at his grandfather.

Yoryeon took a seat on the floor. "I am sure you have many, many questions. Rightly so, and I can finally answer them. But first, why don't you go eat and relax for a bit? The answers can wait." Yoryeon looked at Ilho. "What power did you awaken?"

Blue looked at Ilho.

"Oh yeah, that's why we rushed in here. I got something called Veil. My class is Ranger."

"Veil? Ranger? What the hell is that?" Blue asked. He turned and looked at Jinhu. "What's your class?"

Jinhu opened his system. "Ber... ber... ser..."

Blue leaned over to read Jinhu's screen. "Berserker." Blue chuckled.

Jinhu snapped his fingers. "Yup! That's it. Berserker!"

"What the hell is that? You guys both got crazy classes. What the hell, man?"

Jinhu shrugged his shoulders. "Says the champion. Now... let's go eat! My stomach is empty now!"

Jinhu hopped up as Ilho joined him. They both stared at Blue. "You coming?"

Blue stared at Yoryeon, who had a big grin on his face.

"Go. I am not going anywhere, grandson."

"Yeah, you heard the ghost of your granddad. He's not going anywhere. Let's go."