Kai's eyes opened slowly, his body felt light as if he weighed nothing. As he turned around to see where he was, fear gripped him when he saw himself in a new environment covered in blue flames. Just in front of him glowed a bright light that flickered like a ray of sun reflecting from a mirror.
Kai began to make his way towards the light, taking long strides. The flames parted away from each other with each footstep Kai took. The light grew bigger the further Kai walked towards it, expanding with beaming potentials that attracted Kai even more.
When Kai arrived in front of the light a fog stood in front of him blocking his path from moving any further. 'What do I do now?' Kai thought before waving his hand at the fog that cleared immediately. Before him stood a magnificent beauty. The building stood tall like a castle, covered in red brick stone that glowed, resonating with its allure nature.
Kai made his way to the entrance still admiring the castle. He made his way up the short staircase that led towards the entrance. 'I am dead?' The question popped up in his head but he quickly brushed it off when the huge red metal door that had two dragon heads for a knock handle stood in front of him. Kai gracefully raised one of the handles as he hit the door.
BANG! BANG!! BANG!!!
After waiting for some time, the huge metal doors began to creak inside letting out sharp noises that were painful to the ears. Kai patiently waited before hearing the sound stop. The doors began to open slowly letting out a bright light that blinded him for a split second before adjusting to reveal a majestic hallway. Kai walked into the hallway observing the antiques that were kept on display all around the hallway, each antique different from the first one. "Where am I?" Kai questioned.
"The Jade Dragon Castle." A fog appeared in front of him, replying to his question. Kai was bewildered when he saw the reply before using his hands to scruffle the fog. Kai made his way to the end of the hall, standing before him were two gigantic pillars that could weigh over 5000kg.
"Something is supposed to be there," Kai concluded before getting a reply from the fog. "The Astral Column." Kai had never had this kind of experience before, this was a new phase of his new life. Just behind the pillars was a special disc that hung in the air. Kai stepped on before the disc began to ascend upward, taking Kai to the second floor.
Kai tried to access his system as he stepped out from the disc but his efforts proved useless. Just beside the exit was a soul column. Kai placed his hand on it when suddenly a scrip appeared on the soul column.
Kai gained access to the script, revealing to him details of his Astral Node.
Beast Guardian Node: Dragon Astral Node
Rank: Grey
Ascendant Rank: Red
The list on the script included all the skills the Astral Node could possess and the resources they would consume. The information in the script continued like it could go on forever.
Kai's eyes widened to their limits.
Rushing back to the main exit, Kai had begun to find it difficult to breathe. The air that created combustion for the flames was beginning to get sucked up, a bright curealean light blinded him as he stepped outside making Kai lose consciousness.
"Ugh!" Kai's eyes opened slowly adjusting to the light.
"Thought you were already dead slave boy." Erik's cold voice pierced Kai's ears.
"Where are we?" Kai asked, his head still aching from the fall.
"The end of the challenge." Annika's voice came from behind him. Annika was using her healing skills to tend to Frode who was still unconscious on the cold floor. "All team members have to be continuous before the challenge can end officially."
The team was still stuck at the end of the challenge, if all team members were not conscious, the challenge could not end as it would be classified as incomplete. Frode finally woke up, rushing to throw up whatever he had in his stomach.
The blow horns sounded signaling the end of the challenge. Kai's team managed to make it back to their seats with peering eyes glued against them. The Ranking Board also flickered, showing the new position of the team. Kai's team was now ranked 23rd on the Ranking Board with Erik dropping to 3rd position.
"We did great today, and we'll do even better next time," Frode said motivating the team.
The next team took on the challenge, making the challenge drag on for the rest of the day. By the time they were done Kai's team had dropped in their position on the Ranking Board to 26. Erik felt infuriated by the results. "Next time, had better be good or..." Erik complained unnecessarily as they watched the last team complete the challenge for the day.
"Today, we saw some action. Tomorrow, we intend to see more." The Colonel's voice came from the speakers. "Now we can tell which team deserves to be here. Dismissed" The Colonel's last words were melodic to Kai's ears, he just wanted to get out of the arena to somewhere he would be calm. The script he saw from the Jade Dragon Castle still lingered in his thoughts.
Soon the arena became empty as all the recruits made their way to their different destinations. Some went directly to the dorms while some went to the gym or canteen. The day was already gone by the time they came out, darkness covered the sky revealing the brightness of the moon.
Kai made his way to the Rock where he usually meditated in hopes of going back to the Jade Dragon Castle. The castle held vast answers about his Astral Node. But how was he going to get back there?
After a while of sitting quietly alone on the rock, Kai finally managed to slip into the Astral World.