The thunderous clash of metal wakes him up. He jolt awake, eyes snapped open at the loud sound coming in front of him.

  When he jolt awake, embarrassingly his first concern was the conditions of his back rather then what mischief whatever vase Feng Zhu and Fang Zhu break this time.

  But when his brain catch up to him, what he saw was not Feng Zhu mischievous smile nor Fang Zhu sheepish apology. There was no sound of cricket nor Ms. Fan infamous chicken alarm. Instead two girls covered with sweat and blood fight desperately to overwhelm each other.

  What? What the hell happened?

  It's been pretty late at night. He had locked the fence upon Yao's insistence, worried for the nonexistent thieves in their small village. Send those little brats home with their nosy mother. Tidy the guest room a bit. Brush his teeth and go to bed.

  He remember feeling pretty down too. Being an old man give you too much time on your hand. So much so you would reminiscing more that you should. For some reason that person appear on his mind when he's trying to sleep. The memories gripped his mind that force him awake, his heart was heavy as the sorrow come washing in, leaving him restless in the middle of the night. It was seriously a low blow.

  As if the gaping hole from the loss of his best friend isn't enough, the universe decide to remind him of Chen An. With so much reminiscing in one go he was afraid that he had truly become an old man. The memory from the past has make him think he would have nightmare that night. But instead of waking up feeling drained and sappy..

  How did he end up in this situation?

  The girl with long wavy hair struck down her opponent. The opponent, a short hair girl with black hair and black eye fell on her knees. A river of blood flowing from her wrist.

  From behind him, another woman step up and shout with command, "The matches is over! The winner is Saeha! Medic! Don't just stand there and heal her wound!" Her sharp voice cleared all the fog left in his sleepy brain.

  His heart thump wildly as reality came crashing down on him. His eyes glued at the girl curling on the floor.

  Her short hair dangling just above the wounded hand. Her left hand gripped the wound strong enough that the surrounding skin turn white. Yet around the white colour, blood continue to drip down trough the gap in between her finger. Her face was hidden by her black hair but her teeth were gritted and a drop of tears feel down to her chin.

  Even when the room erupted to chaos, there's only one thought in his head.

  If that wound doesn't get treated right away, that girl will die.

  His instincts, honed by years of battle, took over as he compose himself. The shock slowly subside as the gear in his mind start turning. The current situation is a shock and the situation is urgent. He doesn't know what happened, he doesn't know where he is, but he knows that kind of wound like the back of his hand. If he doesn't act and fast, a young woman will lost her life in front of him.

  Despite being in the dark about the situation, he jumped into action, ignoring the shock of his new reality. He pushed through the chaos, his chest rise steadily up and down. The smell of iron-rich blood filled his nostrils, and the metallic tang was almost palpable in the air. The noise around him dissappear as he approached, the girl's eye widen in surprise.

  He barely registered the long haired winner bowing to him, solely focus to the girl kneeling before him. Chrouching down, he slowly peel her other hand away that tightly clutching the wound.

  He take a look at the wound.

  The cut was deep even grazing the bone. Blood oozed from the gash in a steady stream, soaking the fabric of her sleeve. He could feel the pulse of the life draining out of her. Despite the similar and worst experience in the past somehow his heart raced in response.

  He's getting to old for this.

  In a mechanical order when he ripped the end of his gi uniform—he didn't remember wearing—wrap the cloth around his palm, take the wounded wrist, and wrap the bleeding fountain of red. Just as he was about to tied the cloth tightly, a deafening voice cut through the quiet dojo.

  “Medic!”

  He turned. A boy, wearing a medic hat on his head, was rushing toward him. He had the face of a promising young doctor, but the sight of his trembling hands told another story.

  "S-sir, I uhm, I-I am — Miss Eun Hwa order me t-to heal her...," the boy stuttered.

  He frown, "You're the medic?" He regards the young boy with half the mind, settling with slightly rewarping the now loose makeshift bandage. After tightly tying the cloth, he return his attention at the still standing medic.

  "So?"

  "Y-yes I am!" The medic boy nodded frantically.

  The man look at him apprehensively.

  "What are you doing? Stop standing around and do something!" He grabbed the timid medic hand to sit in his right.

  Half questioning the doctor's sanity, he handed the girl's wound closer to the boy. A quick look at the wounded girl make him realize how much younger she is that what he previously thought. The rounded face remind him of Ms. Fan 13 years old granddaughter.

  How did this kind of wound—never mind there's no the time for this!

  "Where's your medkit?" He asked the medic coldly, but tense voice come out from his mouth.

  "I-I'm sorry? No its- Sir Yoo Sihyuk, I could heal with magic properties," the boy says putting his two hand on top of the girl's warp wound.

  What?

  Since when can people do magic? Is this guy's joking? Now!?

  What kind of lunatic they pick for a medic!?

  Just when he was about to question the boy qualification, a sudden movement stop him.

  Sshink

  The boy open the now blood stained cloth letting blood freely flow from her hand.

  ?!!

  The man’s mind barely registered the strange sensation—the faint green light flickering between the boy’s fingers, shimmering and swirling in a way that defied everything he knew about medicine. He had seen death, had seen wounds heal through sheer grit or not at all. But this—this was something entirely different.

  The medic let out a breath of air.

  The bleeding has stop?!

  He pulled the girl's arm gently, allowing a clear view of the girl's wrist.

  The blood has stop flowing completely and the wound now leaves a pink flesh over the girl's blood covered wrist. The girl flinched despite his careful consideration.

  "Uhm.. S-sir Yoo Sihyuk, please don't aggravate her other injuries. With my current ability, I could only do another 4 of such spells, so I will still need to heal her wounds with medical equipment. So, if you let me, I would like to clean the leftover wound on her wrist first and then warp it with herbs and bandages?" the meek medic ask nervously, raising his hands closer as a gestures.

  The man look at him like he was an alien.

  No, maybe he was indeed an alien.

  What was that just now? And what, who is Yoo Sihyuk?

  "Um, Sir?" The medic question's snap him out of it, realizing the bot now looking at the girl for clue. The girl look at him slowly, masking the confusion in her eyes.

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  "Master?" The girl ask weirdly respectful despite the tremble in her voice.

  He gives her hand to the medic while standing up, taking a step back.

  Then a movement from the front grab the man's attention. The winner girl, a girl with long wavy hair walk slowly to the corner where other few people with the same gi uniform are watching.

  One thing he notice was the wooden sword trailing on her belt.

  He looked around her waist, finding no other weapon there.

  'Did the two girls just fight with wooden sword? No, it's impossible. A wooden sword shouldn't be able to go through skin and clothes. It should not cause that kind of wound..' He halted his spiraling thought, remembering the green particle that miraculously heal that same wound.

  'I could heal with magic properties,' the medic had said.

  Magic.

  If there exist a power to heal wound out of nothing, there would exist a power to create that wound out of a wooden sword.

  His head throb.

  He come to a realization—

  A hand come to his forehead, he felt the warm on his hand.

  No way.

  The sound of footsteps from behind him bring him to reality.

  "Master? Are you okay?" A fairly young woman ask him with worried face.

  He recognize her voice.

  It's the woman's voice who stop the fight earlier. It's also eerily similar with the monstrous voice that called for the medic.

  Another thing he notice was the strange word he understand as his but feel foreign.

  'Ah.. Right, the language I speaks until now isn't Chinese isn't it? What is this, what's going on. Is this a dream? But it deosn't feels like a-'

  His head throb.

  No, right someone's asking him a question right now.

  "What?" He answered curtly at her greeting form. The woman that seems to have the most authorities and composure than any of the people here is calling him 'master'?

  "I, it's just.. for you to be so panicked was a rare occurance," the woman replied politely maybe more than the meek medic. He look at her face, trying to gauge an information from her eyes behind the glasses. The uniform she's wearing, he realized, is different from the other spectator, kids, and the earlier two girls fighting. The uniform has more elaborated embroidery in the chest and arm area. The belt are also different in color, a black belt with the writing 'Instructor Eun' in a foreign language.

  Eun? Is she Eun Hwa?

  "Master Yoo, are you okay?" After the long silence she ask again.

  Master. That word again. He had never been to a dojo before but he's pretty sure that means he's the head of the dojo. How did he wind up being one? Is this Yoo Sihyuk's guy—

  A hand on his shoulder halted his thought.

  "Sir?" Eun Hwa ask, closer this time. Her tone was low and the volume was set so only she and him could hear. For not having a single clue about this situation, this is getting too personal for his liking.

  "Yeah? Y'know.. I just need some fresh air."

  He search the room and find a huge door with the word 'EXIT' place on top. Setting aside the woman, he walk towards the door, albeit more unstable than he hope. Maybe he was more panicked that he thought, but he doesn't realize the height different before. The perception of space makes him dizzy but no more than he already does, so he walk with balance on the third step.

  The huge door creak as he push them open and nausea almost came to overtook him.

  But it stop just as quickly as the freezing mountain air prick his skin. Somehow, his eyes opened even wider.

  The icy wind hit him like a wall, biting through his thin gi. But even as the cold stung his skin, his heart raced faster. Peaks and valleys stretched out before him, shrouded in mist and swirling snow. He took a shaky breath, his hand clutching the doorframe for support.

  This is not his home! This is nowhere near his home! Where is this?

  The wind howls a relentless force that cut through his thin dojo uniform. He feels the raw, biting chill seep through his clothes, making his skin prickle and breath visible in the frosty air. It was clearly freezing cold, but the only thing he got was the inconvenience of his reddening skin on the tip of his fingers.

  This is not his body. A body strong enough to withstand the howling wind. A leg that didn't give him pain with every step he take. A hand with no wrinkle, skin of his face smooth and firm.

  .

  .

  This wasn’t his body.

  The strength in his limbs,

  the lack of pain in his knees,

  the smoothness of his hands—it all felt wrong.

  This body, this place, this life…

  It wasn’t his.

  The crunch of snow that contrast the howling wind in his ears pull him back.

  "Master Yoo Sihyuk, is everything okay?" He barely pick up the firm voice of a woman. The woman that come to his side just like earlier, quickly reach up to him and grab his shoulder. Her face contort in worried expression that caught him off guard.

  “What… is this?” he muttered, more to himself than to the woman before him. But she heard.

  “This is the Ranking Tournament,” she explained, as if it should make sense to him. “It’s an event that happens every year. Do you not remember? Did you hit your head?”

  He opened his mouth to respond, but the weight of his confusion was overwhelming. He had always been sharp, always been alert. But right now, he felt disoriented, like a ghost in a body that didn’t belong to him.

  Before he could form another thought, a new voice broke through.

  Suddenly another figure appear from the mist, a man with another white dojo uniform approach from the dojo direction.

  "Eun Hwa, what happened? What took you so long? And why's the barrier's gone?" the newcomer called out, his eyes scanning the area before settling on the two figures standing amidst the snow storm.

  The man come closer to them, revealing his black belt and the same embroidery on his chest and arm. He stop a few meters away with a relive smile on his face. The blond instructor's face turns weird upon seeing him.

  Barrier? Is that another kind of magic?

  "Keith? I don't know what happened either, the Master is..," the woman trailed off seemingly unsure of what to say. She looks down for a bit before raising her eyes and walk closer to Keith.

  "I think there's something wrong's with Master's memory," she whisper to Keith but he heard her through the blizzard and cupped hand.

  Keith looks tentatively between the woman and him, "Master Yoo? Do you remember where you are?"

  "…"

  He cannot answer. It's not like he could guess any mountain name he know. Vague answer like 'mountain' or 'some valley' also would tell them what he knew. Which is basically nothing. The woman only look more worried by his silence while the man looked unsure as he approach him.

  Looking warily at Keith, the instructor asked him once again, "Do you remember your name?"

  "It's Yoo Sihyuk."

  "Do you remember who I am?"

  "..Keith,"

  "Hmm..," Keith seemed to contemplate upon his answer.

  Crap, does somehow he answer wrong?

  His heart thump wildly while his finger tremble. The cold wind and snow that slowly covered him doesn't help in calming him either.

  Realizing something, Keith perk up, "Ah, you must be cold, after all the barrier's gone. Please hold on a minute, I'll fix it now."

  Barrier? He doesn't think fixing a barrier would help warm him. Just what is this barrier from earlier?

  Raising his hand, Keith exceed all expectation. With one hand a huge transparent wall creep from bellow the terrain. It slowly make a sphere shape around him, encapsulating him, the two instructor, along with the whole dojo behind them. The size was monstrous enough to cover the towering dojo behind them, but also him and the mountain slope behind. The snow slowly stop entering and the howling wind in his ears dies down. The serene atmosphere was only disturb by the thumping heart in his chest.

  What?

  Did he just stop a blizzard with one hand?

  Cold sweat dripped down his back.

  This power…

  It shouldn't have exist..

  Sixty years ago.

  In the war, if this power truly exist..

  He shuddered.

  His hands trembled, not from the cold snow weighing on his shoulder, but from the weight of it all. The power was real.

  And there was nothing he could do about it.

  He could only guess and question himself. What is real, what is not, what if this just some crazy realistic dream?

  But the moment the man approach him, all his 'what' guesses fly out of his head. The man look at him with a frown, then a sigh, and then finally a smile. The smile was forced, the kind you give to a confused old man who forgot his own name.

  "Master Yoo, the wind is quite cold outside. Perhaps we should go and talk inside where it's warmer?" The man spoke with a gentle tone that was eerily soothing.

  "Ah..," the man, nodded weakly, following Eun Hwa and the other instructor from behind. The warmth of the dojo was a stark contrast to the frigid air outside, and as they stepped back in another person with unique white uniform ran up to them.

  "Keith-ssi, Eun Hwa-ssi..," his words paused when he sees the person following the two instructors.

  He was a broad-shouldered man with a stern face, his black hair tied neatly behind his back, and his gaze sharp as he observed him.

  "Master Yoo.. are you okay? Is there anything wrong?"

  "Please don't worry, we would handle this. Jung-ssi, please continue the student's ranking tournament, we will take the Master to a more private place," Eun Hwa calmly takes over, standing in front of 'Jung-ssi' while pressing her hand on his shoulder.

  Jung nodded, slowly glancing at him and his wet attire.

  "Understood," he says before turning to the other instructors, "Let's proceed with the next match!"

  Contrary to his gentle demeanor, his voice boomed across the arena. He could hear some of the student talking amongst themselves as he followed the two instructor into a rather slim wooden door behind the arena.

  "What happened to the Master?" A male student whisper.

  "Hey, why you ask me? I am beside you all this time, I don't know either! You should ask Mario, do you know something?"

  "Hey.. I'm beside you guys too all this time.. But it seems that the barrier is gone for a moment. It might have something to do with it. After all, Master Yoo come back with snow all over him and Instructor Keith seems upset."

  "Dude, I told you he'd known something."

  "That was only a simple deduction you idiot! But as always your mana detection is-"

  Tap

  They stop in front of a slide wooden door as his attention shift. Having a good sense of hearing is another thing he need to get adjusted to. The door slips to the sides as Eun Hwa gesture for him to follow. The door leads to a corridor with a stair leading to the upper floor and some room with similar looking door on the other side.

  The man with a forced smile, Keith, spoke on the staircase, "Let's go Master."

  He looks towards the stairs in ominous shadow. With a foreboding feelings he nod, step resounding through the quiet corridor, as he climb up the stairs and follows the two monster up ahead.

  (For the submission approval team,

  This is a prototype chapter for what was supposed to be my fanfiction. I was planning to make this reader interactive which make the first chapter less than 500 words that's required and hence the real first chapter I planned was rejected yesterday. If my works got approved, I would like to change it back to the original chapter that got rejected, so that I could really make this reader interactive. Is that okay?)