Martial Arts Worlds

After searching for a new residence, Aoi and Kiernan finally found one person renting out a room from his own house.

The house was like a miniature mansion. It was located on a nice-looking street, with a beautiful garden in the front.

While most of the rooms in that house were already rented out, they managed to rent the attic after a little bit of bargaining.

The owner of the house didn't originally plan to rent the attic, as there were already about a dozen other rooms that had already been rented, but Kiernan managed to convince him.

While the attic had the lowest ceiling, as it was V-shaped, it was the most spacious one out of all the rooms in the house.

The attic already wasn't used as some kind of storage place but was just a guest room with a bed for two, a floor-sized carpet, and a small desk in the corner.

It also had a large triangle-shaped window, a cozy reclining chair placed near the corner, and shelves lining the walls for books and decorations.

For an attic, it was a really nice-looking place, and both Kiernan and Aoi were quite satisfied with it, but the rent was higher than back in the inn.

However, they weren't in desperate need of money right now, and it was a decent place to stay while they tried to find a way to deal with the Lovely Flower Sect.

"It's not bad. Just needs little bit of tidying up, and it'll be perfect for us."

Aoi said with a smile, put her belongings away, and looked out of the triangle-shaped window at the streets.

'The streets look really nice. Beside the sidewalks, there are a lot of flowers planted on both sides of the road. I wouldn't mind living in this kind of place, but of course, this doesn't count, as we're only renting this attic.'

Aoi thought to herself, turned to look at Kiernan, and wondered for a moment about what he wanted to do in the future.

He didn't come as a guy that was willing to settle down, make a few children, and live a traditional family life.

'I am still worried about the future. If the fortune comes true, then we'll be separated for a long while. I can, of course, try to change that, but what could I do—never let him go anywhere without me?

'I think I might come off as an annoying girl, and he might stop liking me… I don't want that! But I am really worried…'

While Aoi's brain was turning with gears, Kiernan put his things away and looked around the attic.

The attic didn't really bring any privacy for the two of them, and he didn't have any place where he could put the teleportation circle, which would take him to Martial Order's meeting.

'I've just received a message in the Martial Order app that we will be having a meeting tonight. I need to find a way to get there, as I need help and have very valuable information.'

With those thoughts running across their mind, the owner of the house came to check out whether they had gotten settled.

They then got invited to the dinner, where the rest of the tenants also were, and got introduced to everyone.

It felt like they were in a sharehouse, and it pretty much was like that. They didn't have their own kitchens to go with, so the owner's wife usually made dinner for everyone, but every tenant, of course, had to pay for their share of the groceries.

After the dinner was over, it turned night as the sun went hiding beyond the horizon, casting a blanket of darkness over the small city.

"I'll be out for a while, but I'll be back in a few hours."

Kiernan said as he slung a backpack over his shoulder, put his outdoor clothes on, and also took the required items needed to do the ceremony.

"Is it related to the Lovely Flower Sect? If so, please be careful."

Aoi said worryingly while sitting on the bed in her nightgown, and she was currently reading the book with the help of the dim light coming from the bedside lamp.

"It's not that. Nothing to worry about."

Kiernan gave her a kiss on the forehead and then headed out of the sharehouse, made his way out of the nice neighborhood, and after a moment of searching, he found an abandoned house in the corner of the High Five and Swordie Street.

It was the house that he caught a glimpse of before when he and Aoi were making their way to the sharehouse to talk with the owner about renting a room there.

This abandoned house seemed empty, from what he saw, as it had an overgrown yard, broken and boarded windows, and a dilapidated roof.

Its paint also seemed to be peeling off like a dried-up snake's skin.

'This is the perfect place to do the ceremony at. I don't think anyone will be coming there, and no one will probably purchase this building either.

'It'll take a lot of time and money to fix this building up.'

Kiernan found his way inside the house at the back, through the back door that wasn't even locked, and found himself in a completely empty room upstairs.

He quickly got the ceremony circle ready and then started waiting right at the center of it to be teleported to Old King's place.

'It should be about time…'

Kiernan checked the time on the phone, and as soon as he did, the surroundings around him changed, and he appeared in the cave.

Around the stone table, there were already people seated, and Kiernan immediately took his spot from the previous visit.

"Welcome, Kiernan."

"Hello, Kiernan."

"Nice to meet you again, Kiernan."

The members of the Martial Order echoed, and they had already dropped the nicknames while in the meeting.

However, they also decided that if there were another Martial Order mission in the future, they would all refer to each other by their nicknames.

"Hello."

Kiernan said, and after a moment of waiting, everyone except one person had arrived already, and it looked like the last person wasn't coming.

'One seat is empty… It belongs to Antigone Collingwood… The young prodigy.'

Kiernan thought.

"I apologize, but Antigone won't be participating in today's meeting. She has other responsibilities that she needs to attend to."

Xerxus said.

"That's fine then. You can tell Antigone what we talked about then."

Pankratios said, then tapped his finger on the stone table, and the candles on top of the table started burning brightly.

"The meeting has started!"