"I'll have a secret sister as the next big reveal because nobody cared to tell me about her either." Derek fussed about in his head before he went the fair route towards his Grandfather and realized that he never asked him about his mother's side or cared. He was on the southern Korean island of Jeju-si. He was wandering down the road from his maternal family's home estate. "Oi, I think this clown might be a Hyun, Byun gi tong!" Said the bandit to the other as two of them came out of nowhere and hopped in front of the hero of smoke. "Yesth, Pi hae Ja, can't hide behind the beige cream gates, let's turn him into a victim!" Said the original bandit's buddy who had a deep lisp. The size of the giant combined with the voice threw Derek off. The hero's silent glare intimidated the two but he predicted they weren't the brightest to listen to their brains, they attacked, he slipped through and around their punches, he was enjoying himself for a moment before his right arm began feeling numb and like it lost circulation as cream beige ash fell from his forearm consistently. "Let's put the freak down!" Pi hae ja yelled at the top of his lungs out of fear before he attacked. Derek's body felt like it was too heavy to move, his headaches and the low ringing returning as he was stuck in a wide stance with two unknown killers charging towards him. Suddenly Derek witnessed heavy piles of ashes similar to what he keeps seeing and appearing in his hands falling on top of his attackers themselves, resulting with them being stopped dead in their tracks.
He heard hysterical laughter coming from behind him before this mysterious man grabbed the smaller, more talkative and annoying attacker by the back of his shirt as if he was weightless and kicked him in his butt before they both suddenly ran off into the forest. "The rest of your little boys can see this humiliation from our attic, goons!" Derek heard assertively from a little girl who walked in front of him. She heard his grunting and sounds of struggle and turned her attention from them to him. "I've never seen this before so who the heck are you?" The little girl asked him with her hands at her hips and eyes squinting. Derek struggled to speak and his Korean came out funny as he was still in a wide stance, heavy head and as if his gravity had been amplified before he passed out but becoming unconscious again was a break from the struggle. An hour later, Derek woke up with a slight headache and confusion of where he was moved. It looked as though a medieval dungeon, dark bricks and exceptionally strange cream colored fire upon the torches before he noticed he was restrained. Chains on his forearms. "Are you related to something Wiley, uh— Derek Wiley?" Asked a mysterious man who Derek noticed was slightly older than himself with a friendly tone. The hero nodded his head but his jaw bone was feeling like he had been punched. "Crap!" Said the young man with an arrow in his hand. "What's the excuse you're gonna tell them this time, Jang?" Said the young lady whose name he still wasn't aware of with a genuinely curious tone. "I'll think of something on the fly, how'd you find him, Sun-young?!" Jang asked the young lady whose name was Sun-young, Derek noted.
"Members from Gan gang ja's den." Sun-Young answered him as she put her fists on her hips again. "Crap!" Said Jang upon hearing her answer.
"When's the big man getting here?" Jang asked himself before he realized Derek was unconscious again. "He had really gray smoke emitting around him like he was on fire from the inside?" Sun-Young filled her brother in on what she saw.
Derek woke up witnessing a humongous older man in front of him. The two's eyes met as their faces were the same expression, dull, "My name is Derek Wiley, my Grandfather told me to find you if you're Hyun Ye-Jun, the elder of the kin of ashen heroes?" Derek spoke with his most respectful but naturally quiet tone as he was still chained up.
The gigantic older man stared at him with a blank expression for the longest, though his face didn't show what he was thinking, the hero could tell that he was surveying him for specific details and pondering. "That ancient child of yours still knows how to catch me off guard." Said Hyun Ye-Jun before he broke out in hysterical laughter. Derek took his reaction as a yes. "Am I allowed to get unchained from this wall then?" Derek asked as he moved the chains around, clanging on the ground.
"We talked prior, he caught me up on a bit of your training and childhood since your father took away our Tae-Lee from us, he told me you've surpassed him in his youth though. If so, quite the opposite of what your brother was dealing with when they called us, huh?" Hyun Ye-Jun replied until he caught himself reminding himself of his Maternal Grandson and took a moment, he looked at Jang and from it he knew what he was told to do. The hero felt the obvious negative view his Maternal Grandfather holds for his father. "What was he dealing with?" Derek asked as Jang assisted in getting free, he looked at Jang as he was feeling his wrists.
"A significant superhuman increase in every physical stat and animalistic ferocity. We feared and we warned your stubborn and dark father that mixing our bloodlines would bring ruin to their offspring. He was contagious to your mother, made her slow and lovesick. Now you're here, we wouldn't dare believe in any other option now that you are but truth be told…" Hyun Ye-Jun didn't feel it was necessary to continue. Derek listened to his story and let his words echo in his thoughts.
"Whatever though, your Aunt and Uncle should be back from their store very soon, until then come and greet your cousins!" Hyun Ye-Jun, Derek's maternal Grandfather, broke the awkward silence with joy as he grabbed his shoulder.
Derek followed closely behind his cousins Jang, Sun-Young and his maternal Grandfather Ye-Jun up the stairs of their basement and was met with a glorious sight even though his facial expression did not show his shock and awe to them. "Eight cousins." Derek thought to himself as he touched his chin while his cousins were ready to greet him, each dressed much stranger than what he was used to seeing. "Eldest to youngest. You've already met him though, this is Jang." Ye-Jun introduced as he noticed Jang had a sort of stoned out expression on him. "Yo, call me Arched though." Jang requested as he pointed his two front fingers towards him. "This dutiful young woman is your second eldest cousin, Hyun Chae." His Maternal Grandfather introduced with a voice filled with pride. "Don't ever get in my way." Hyun Chae demanded but Derek didn't care for her attitude or monotonous voice.
"You've been looking at her this entire time trying to figure out her deal, That former traveler Phil could train a dog to become a proper Detective. She's Hyun Soo-Ae." Ye-Jun introduced noticeably as though he was the proudest from his tone. Soo-Ae politely nodded her head as a greeting but she kept her head down with her stylish wide brim bucket hat covering her eyes and the rest except her mouth, he noticed she was the tallest of her siblings. "We named this young man here, Hyun Duri." Ye-Jun introduced without his same pride.
"'Sup, I overheard our old gossips mention how well you can handle yourself in a competition. Some truth to that?" Duri greeted his younger cousin. Derek liked his sense of fashion. He happens to be the most normally dressed, a thin sweatshirt and joggers. "This boy is incapable of understanding the definition of manners, he's off limits, he's not in the greatest condition, Delinquent." Ye-Jun asserted as he stepped closer to his Maternal Grandson who was holding his chest. "Where did Sun-Young go?" Jang asked after realizing she was gone from the greetings.