Martial Arts Worlds

"Julian…"

Kiernan wryly smiled and did a slapping handshake with Julian, and it became painfully clear to Aoi that the two knew each other.

"And… who may this lovely lady be?"

Julian looked at Aoi, saw her holding hands with Kiernan, and saw both of them wearing the engagement ring.

She had a cute face with round eyes and a button nose that was just adorable, black hair that flowed down her back, and gray eyes, which were quite identical to Kiernan's.

"Arakawa Aoi, nice to meet you."

She curtsied and looked at Kiernan, blinking her long eyelashes, clearly asking who this guy was.

"This is Julian Noah. A friend of mine, and he is currently living at my dad's."

Kiernan said.

'Basically brothers, it sounds like…'

Aoi said, then smiled, and shook Julian's hand while he was looking at the two lovers with a thoughtful look.

"I don't know what you did, but you must be quite a special lady… Well, it was nice seeing you, Kiernan, but here, we're rivals!"

Julian smacked Kiernan's back loudly, which would hurt everyone else, but not him, as his physique was that of a peak human.

He was just one step away from shedding his humanity and entering the first realm of the Gods, so a mere smack by Martial Master wouldn't do anything to him.

"…?!"

Julian looked at his hand, which was shaking, as he felt like he just smacked the back of a mountain and not a man.

It shocked him truly.

'What kind of… monster have you become?'

Julian thought, and to hide his trembling hand, he slipped it inside his pocket, and with a dark look on his face, he left the great hall.

He felt like the gap between him and Kiernan had grown far too wide—it pissed him the hell off—as he considered Kiernan as his greatest rival.

However, at this point, there was no way Kiernan would consider him as his rival with his current strength!

'…It can't end like this.'

…

Kiernan plopped down on the bed of his room, and immediately after, a dark-blue-furred wolf came and jumped into his lap.

No longer small as before, Fen snuggled his head against Kiernan's chest, and he put his hand over his favorite companion's furry head.

'Now that Aoi went to check out the missions, I'd like to keep trying to learn Flow State. I need it, desperately, to have any chance in the tournament.

'I can worry about the points later.

'It's currently ten at night, and the gathering ended about an hour ago, so every day by nine at night, I must ensure that I am not in the red in the rankings.'

Kiernan looked at the black wristwatch, and saw his current position in the rankings and the position of everyone else.

[3565. Kiernan Hunter - Points: 0]

He was far in the rankings, but the rankings were random at the moment, as no one had any points.

'How many people there are in total, I wonder…'

"Psst, Fen, I gave you some food, so go eat it. I need to concentrate for a moment, alright?"

Kiernan asked the dark-furred creature, and Fen whimpered in displeasure but listened to the words of his master and trotted away to eat.

Kiernan, on the other hand, went cross-legged, put his hands on his knees, and let the candle burn on the bedside table.

The candle was a special kind, bought from Rodero, and it was said to increase the concentration, and focus.

While at first he thought that it was a scam item, he decided to purchase it since he had money, and it was relatively cheap.

After using it a couple of times, he realized that it might not have been a scam after all, as his concentration has been the best ever since he got the candle.

It could also be just his imagination, and nothing changed, but he just learned how to meditate better.

'Flow State…'

Kiernan took a deep breath, inhaled the scent of the candle, and then closed his eyes in deep contemplation.

His mind was dark and empty—there was nothing there—but at that moment, light shadows moved across his inner vision.

They were throwing punches, doing high kicks, and grappling with each other.

The light shadows were practicing Iron Style, and when Kiernan saw them, his eyes shook as he realized something.

'…They're doing my moves better than I am?'

At that moment, a hand touched his shoulder—it felt very real, and he thought that Aoi had come back from the mission board—but she wouldn't disturb him if she saw that he was meditating.

While still with eyes closed, Kiernan turned his head around, and in the dark mind of his, he saw a cold-looking man staring down at him with a look of displeasure.

The man was Kiernan Hunter… of Earth during his prime years, just a few days after the ending of the Devil Ritual.

At the moment of his life when Kiernan was at his darkest, and his hands were only for killing.

"What a pathetic sissy you are."

With a scoff, the Dark Kiernan thrust his fist at Kiernan, hitting him squarely in the right pec, and sent him flying through the dark world.

"Cough…"

While sitting on his bed meditating, Kiernan actually coughed blood, as if he got hurt inside his mind for real!

"What do you think you are doing with my Iron Style? You have been fighting like you're playing some sports. You have shackled yourself with all these rules, and you're holding yourself back!"

Dark Kiernan shouted, walking towards him with stomping steps, and it was clear that he was raging.

"You don't intend to hurt with your punches. You're punching while trying to avoid hurting your opponents. What the fuck are you doing?"

Dark Kiernan looked disgusted as he looked at him and then whipped his leg across Kiernan's face, sending him flying to the dark sky.

In the real world, Kiernan's head got snapped to the side, and his nose started bleeding while he was trembling in pain.

"Your subconsciousness brought me here to wake you the fuck up! You think you'll become Martial King? You'll think you learn Flow State? You'll think that you will win the Black Rock tournament?

"The way you are right now, you are not winning shit, weakling! You're a disappointment, and thus, until you get your shit together, I take MY martial arts away from you!"

The Dark Kiernan put his hand inside Kiernan's chest, pulled something out, and then vanished into the darkness.

With a cough of blood, Kiernan woke back up in the real world, his whole body shaking, and his eyes trembled.

'…He took Iron Style away from me…'

He stood up, tried throwing the simple Iron Smash, but failed to do so, and just threw an ordinary sloppy punch.

'…Shit.'