Journey Of A Legend

"D-did he just say..."

"Yeah, he really said it."

"Hit me now. I think I just heard it wrong."

People were utterly shocked by Greg's choice. He just threw his biggest opportunity before him like it was nothing, but just a piece of trash.

Cloud looked at Greg a bit surprised and asked, "Are you sure about your decision?"

Seeing as Greg nodded as an answer Cloud looked at Mistress of Fortune on his side and a while later he sighed.

Walking behind the glass, which was containing the Crystal Card and after touching the lid he opened it.

Taking it out with a careful move, he gave it to Greg and said with a calm expression, "I hope you have your own reasons to choose this way."

"I appreciate it, but I think that card would be only waste in my hands. I think it will be much more useful in the hands of that guy.", said Greg as he looked at the guy next to him.

Hearing this, Cloud's mouth opened slightly, but in the end, he still smiled and said, "If this is what you really think, I can just only wish the best of luck for you and I hope you won't regret your decision in the future."

Taking over the card from Cloud, Greg smiled and said calmly, "I won't."

With that said, he turned around, and with a smile still on his face, he walked back slowly where he came from.

Cloud, Mistress of Fortune, the man, and everyone else looked at his figure, still not believing that he choose a single Soul Creature instead of a lifetime opportunity.

"Well then, as the rules stated, the remaining card will be yours. The only advice I can give, is that you need to choose wisely from which expert you want to learn.", said Cloud to the guy as he handed him the emerald card with a smile.

Taking the card over, the guy's eyes brightened in an instant and after a bow, he started to walk back to his seat hurriedly.

Seeing as the two sat back to their seats, Cloud clapped twice and said, "Well, that was surprising and unforeseen. But as time goes on as will this party too. So let's start our party, shall we?"

The moment he said that waiters started to walk out from the doors with different kinds of meals and drinks in their hands one by one.

As they put the food and drink before the people, Emma looked at the card in Greg's hand and asked, "Why didn't you choose the other one? That was a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

Hearing her question, everyone else around the table looked at Greg with a curious look.

"Well, I thought that kind of teaching wouldn't be useful for me, so instead I let the other guy have it. There wasn't any complicated reason behind my choice, but simply this."

Hearing the unexpected answer, everyone was dumbstruck except one guy.

"As always, you know how to make others shocked.", said Joe with a chuckle as he looked at Greg with a smile.

Jonathan looked at Greg with a strange look but still smiled in the end.

"This guy is much more interesting than I thought."

Time ticked by minute after minute and after half an hour later, finally everyone finished their meal.

After eating the last bite, Greg leaned back into his chair with a satisfied smile and said, "Ah... That was heavenly. I haven't eaten this good food in years"

Hearing this, Laura looked at Greg and asked, "Since years? I don't think that it was anything special. Don't you have anyone else who can cook for you? Like your parents or someone else?"

The moment she asked this, Emma, Mila, and Joe froze still around the table, while Greg's smile suddenly disappeared.

Jonathan knowing what just happened, instantly hit Laura's head and said with a slight bow, "I'm really sorry what my sister said, she didn't mean it."

Greg looked at Jonathan and with a wry smile, he said, "No it's not a problem at all. She couldn't have known it."

Sandra hearing the conversation between the two looked surprised and asked slowly, "Can... you tell us what happened to your parents?"

"SIS!"

Sarah next to her looked very shocked by her sister's question and tried to stop her, but Greg nodded.

"Well it's not a secret, so there is no problem to tell it. It all happened when I was 7 years old. My parents and I went for a nice forest tour, you know, just like every other normal family should once in a while."

As Greg started to talk, it could be felt as everyone around him started to listen very carefully, not wanting to miss any details.

"We were deep in the forest when it started to get dark, so my father told us it was time to go home, but I and my mother insisted. We said to him he can go back and wait at the car and that's what he did. However that was when everything turned upside down.", said Greg and after a bit of hesitation he continued, "When my mother decided it was really time for us to walk back, she was suddenly got caught by... a Gene Plant."

Hearing this, Sandra looked confused and asked, "What is a Gene Plant?"

Jonathan on her side closed his eyes and explained, "Gene Plants are mutated plants, which are born only when a zone break occurs. They are highly intelligent, so if one appears and it catches you, you are..."

"Dead for sure.", said Greg as he looked at Jonathan and continued, "Gene Plants feed on their prey's genes. First, they change the DNA sequence of their prey for their taste and then they start to consume them. For the plant, it's a slow, steady, and enjoyable process, however for the victim... it's hell in itself."

Jonathan nodded and looked at Sandra, while saying, "Yeah, just imagine as someone tries to cut off your skin, then sew it to another place on your body. And all of this while you are awake, so I bet it wouldn't be a nice feeling for sure."

Hearing this, not only Sandra was terrified, but everyone else too.

Seeing as all of them looked at him to continue, Greg sighed and continued in a shaky voice, "The moment my mother was caught, I didn't know what to do. I was terrified and scared. I looked around, thinking about what should I do, but I couldn't. I just stood there and watched as my mother's body slowly started to turn into something unrecognizable, while in her eyes only horror could be seen. She couldn't talk or move, because that thing was all over her body. She tried to tell me to run, but that thing didn't let her. Even at this moment, I can clearly remember her face and the way she looked at me."

Listening to his story, everyone was dead silent.

"I tried to move, but the moment I did, that creature grabbed me too. Right at the top of my head. In that instant, I felt like someone tried to rip my head apart from the inside, while the plant used something to intensify that feeling even more. It also didn't let me fell unconscious, so it was even worse than death. When I thought I will die just like that, suddenly my father came out of nowhere and he was the one who rescued me. After cutting the plant off my head, he instantly brought me back to the car, but instead of running away, he just simply ran back into the forest. Unfortunately, after that, everything turned blurry and the next thing I could remember was that I was all alone in the hospital, while the nurse said I was the only one who survived."

As he finished his story, everyone around the table was quiet, while all of them looked sad and shocked.

"So...The reason why your hair is like that, is it because of that creature,?", asked Sarah a bit shyly.

Greg looked up and after touching his hair he said, "Yeah, this is that creature's doing too."

"T-too?", asked Emma next to Greg with a confused look, not knowing what he meant under the 'too'.

Realizing that he said something he shouldn't have, Greg looked up only to see Emma and the other's confused look.

"Yes... this too.", said Greg with a sigh and raised his hand toward his eyes slowly.

Seeing this act, everyone looked confused as they watched Greg put his two fingers in his left eye. A moment later he grabbed something and with slow motion, he started to pull it out.

When Greg finally took it out, the others saw that it was a strange-looking contact lens, which size was thrice as a normal lens has.

However, the moment he opened his eyes, everyone looked shocked, while their mouth opened extra wide. Even Joe's face looked dumbstruck by what he was seeing.

Greg's eyes were something they didn't see before. The outer part of his eyeball was fully black, while the iris's color was not monochromic, but instead colorful. The sight was beautiful yet bizarre at the same time.

Seeing their shocked faces, Greg put his lense back into his eye and after blinking a few times, his eye turned back to normal.

"This is also that creature's doing. Doctors said if I don't use these special lenses my eyes could become 5 or even 10 times as sensitive as it normally should. Also, it's the best way to avoid scaring other peoples.", said Greg with a wry smile as he looked at the others.