Martial Arts Worlds

When Kiernan left the dark pathway, he entered a well-lit room and saw that Seo was already there, standing in front of a box dedicated to the winner of the third event.

There was already one for second place and third place.

"…"

Kiernan walked to the second-place box, unboxed it, and saw that there was some kind of flask inside with green liquid inside.

"Healing potion."

Seo said and took out his own flask—it was the same one as Kiernan's.

"I've heard that God Island has some powerful alchemists, who are capable of creating healing potions that can heal every wound possible—within limits, of course."

Seo said.

"Is that so…"

Kiernan said and remembered the potion that his mother gave him back in the Nightingale that literally regenerated his limb.

'This must be as good as that, perhaps the exact same.'

Kiernan thought and then heard some footsteps behind him—they turned around and saw a person arriving.

It wasn't someone they expected—it was a dark-haired young man with cool-looking eyes.

"Jace Nightshade… How did you get the third place?"

Seo asked.

'Jace Nightshade? If I remember correctly, he was in the eighth place of the rankings, but he is sure to increase his rank now.'

Kiernan thought to himself.

"While the fools were fighting, I walked to the door, opened it, and entered—they were way too occupied with each other as those brothers fought Sun."

Jace said with a cool-sounding tone, picked up his reward from the box, and walked out of the room.

Kiernan followed after him, but when he stepped through the doorway, he arrived back in his locker room.

Even though Jace walked right ahead of him, he didn't come to the same room as him—he just disappeared—like it was the work of magic.

'Spatial gate?'

Kiernan thought with a frown, turned around, and saw that the door was closed behind him—he then looked at the healing flask and stored it inside his backpack.

If he weren't inside this camera-filled stadium, he would've just stashed it inside his inventory, as it was a safe place.

He sat down on the bench, looked towards the screen, and waited for it to turn on to see his current ranking.

However, most of the representatives weren't anywhere close to finishing just yet, so he had to wait quite a while.

…

"Ngh…"

Zeus stumbled up the steps of the stairs, bloodied and in pain—the brothers really did a number on him—and after arriving at the top, he stumbled through the door.

His final ranking on the third event—38th—and seeing that made him angrier than ever before.

"Those bastards… They've made a laughingstock of me!"

He smashed his fist on the wall and left through the pathway.

…

It was celebrations all over the New Rakuya, with their representative getting second in the third event, and this time around, it was no fluke!

It was an event that was very strength-based, and the weak would have never gotten even top 10, let alone been on the podium.

Thus, the citizens of New Rakuya, who'd been made fun of on social media for the past day, put their frustration on the forums.

They were now allowed to be arrogant, excited, and proud of being a citizen of New Rakuya!

In the social media.

[Whish: It does look like he is actually good… However, how was he so bad in the second event???]

[Funs: Some events don't fit others. Maybe Kiernan just has bad core strength, which is strange for a martial artist, but it's possible]

[13Bucket: Hahaha, you guys have no idea—if you've seen Kiernan during his national days, he always ended up winning from the losing position. I knew that he would bounce back up!]

[BrewerJolly: Yeah! Kiernan defeated the cheater who used Power Drugs in the nationals finals. Who else could do that? His martial rank was lower, strength lower, and in every statistic, he was losing to him, but he still came out victorious!]

[Rinka: Kiernan is the chosen son of New Rakuya!]

…

Kiernan looked at his fingers, which were slightly twisted and bruised—while he kind of fixed them with Bone Harmony, they still had some sore spots.

He grabbed one of his twisted fingers and snapped it back in place—he tried moving it around, and aside from a slight twinge of pain, it seemed to be back to normal.

At that moment, the dark screen turned bright, and the white-faced doll appeared once more.

"Congratulations, representative, for your amazing performance in the third event, Obstacle Race. Everyone has now finished, and thus, we've updated rankings!"

The white-faced doll said with a smile.

'I've been waiting for three hours. I guess it must've taken a long time for others in that fog-shrouded forest and the maze.'

Kiernan thought.

At that moment, the updated rankings appeared on the screen.

***

[1. Seo Donghae - Lagitech - 3805 Points]

[2. Sun Jupiter - God Island - 3411 Points]

[3. Zeus Abracadabra - Nightingale - 2670 Points]

[4. Jace Nightshade - Justira - 2650 Points]

[5. Jason Arcanielago - Daylight - 2589 Points]

[6. Justus Arcanielago - Doomlight - 2555 Points]

[7. Gekido Raijin - Cliff Black - 2501 Points]

[8. Luz Serena - Lilylandia - 2454 Points]

[9. Kiernan Hunter - New Rakuya - 2222 Points]

[10. Prince Leonida - Leonida Kingdom - 2069 Points]

***

"Ninth… It sure is hard to get anywhere close to the top without winning the events. Seo has almost double my points."

Kiernan rubbed his forehead, shook his head, and then picked up his backpack, deciding to return back to his residence.

There was another event tomorrow, and he wanted all the rest he could get.

'The sabotage of the brothers really worked wonders. No doubt that Zeus must be the angriest person on the whole island right now.

'The chances of him winning are almost non-existent now. I now understand the deepness of the rivalry between the Abracadabra and Arcanielago families.

'The two brother has no intention to win the event. They just don't want Zeus to win it, and while at it, they also want to beat him in the rankings.'

Kiernan thought, then stepped out of the locker room and closed the door behind him—the door turned dark as its lights turned off.