Martial Arts Worlds

It was a gray morning, and Kiernan was currently walking down the park path with the tail-wagging Fen following right behind him.

It was very early in the morning, so most of the city hadn't woken up just yet, and thus, there were only a few occasional joggers passing by.

Since Kiernan wasn't hiding his face or anything like that, the joggers had to take a second look to make sure it was really him.

They looked genuinely surprised, but they also didn't stop to disturb him, as they realized that he woke up early for a walk to have peace of mind.

Just like them.

In that moment, Fen saw something and started chasing after a bird that had caught his eye.

The bird took flight, flapping its tiny wings as fast as it could, and disappeared high into the air.

With a disappointed whimper, Fen ran back to Kiernan and just kept trotting beside him with his head hanging low.

Fen wasn't using Ethereal Bond to hide himself, as there was no one in Irio or New Rakuya that could tell that he was Magical Beast.

It wasn't even possible by Immortals such as Imperius and Xerxus. They were in the presence of Fen. Yet they failed to notice him.

It made Kiernan realize that he didn't have to be so extremely careful with him, as it wasn't possible to tell that he was Magical Beast unless he used one of his abilities in plain view.

When he was making his way out of the park, he came across scenes of construction happening over in Lorean's Street.

A while back, the city council of Irio decided to break down the older buildings, and rebuild with modern infrastructure.

It was a shame, Kiernan thought, as older buildings had charm that couldn't be replicated with the modern ones.

'Even the Brown Book Library got demolished. What a shame. I know that young me used to go there to study about martial arts.

'I'll never forget the smell of old books and the creak of the wooden floors under my feet. It was as if I was there just yesterday.'

Kiernan thought.

The old memories that belonged to the old Kiernan before his death mixed in with his, so they were also his memories.

It just felt weird, as on one hand, those memories felt foreign, and on the other hand, they were his as if he'd been there in person.

"WATCH OUT!"

In that moment, a loud shout came as one of the construction workers shouted as one of the walls of the new building began to fall.

Underneath at the sidewalk, one of the construction workers was picking up new sacks of cement and then saw as the heavy-looking wall started falling towards him.

"Oh shit…"

Horrified pedestrians watched.

In that moment, the falling wall stopped, just inches away from the worker, and the color had disappeared from his face.

"You alright?"

Kiernan asked, holding back the falling wall with just one finger, as if it were as light as a feather.

"A-Ah… Y-Yes?"

The construction worker asked in shock.

"Mm."

Kiernan pushed the wall back into place with a soft thud, then whistled for Fen and started walking away.

"What in the world…"

The construction worker took off his hardhat and scratched his hair as he was ready to meet his maker.

The faces of his two daughters, one baby son, and wife all flashed before his eyes. His wife was moments away from becoming a widow and single mother.

"You alright, Jude?!"

The rest of the construction men came to check whether he was alright and breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that there wasn't a single scratch on him.

"Yeah… That young man saved me."

He said, and turned to look at the disappearing back of Kiernan while a few of the construction workers looked immensely shocked.

"Do you know who that was just now?"

"Uh… I didn't get a proper look at his face. Who?"

"Kiernan motherfucking Hunter, that's who!"

They exclaimed in shock, and the construction worker, who just got saved, was equally shocked as he couldn't believe that he didn't recognize him.

On the walls of his daughter's walls, there were posters of Kiernan Hunter. It was popular merchandise because of his reputation in Irio and his good looks.

Thus, many girls had his pictures on their walls, and so did many boys, as they idolized him and wanted to become as strong.

"I thought he would be already on the way to the Black Rock Island for the tournament!"

"I guess he came to Irio after the draft for couple of days to rest before he'll start heading over there…"

"We actually met a legend! In a couple of days, he will be fighting in that big tournament as a representative for humanity!"

"My children will die of envy when they hear about this… If they believe me, that is!"

…

Walking down the sidewalk, Kiernan kept walking past the pedestrians, who all recognized him.

However, it was as if everyone had made a silent pact to not disturb him, because even though they recognized him, they wanted to respect his privacy.

While walking, he came across just one of the many playgrounds near the middle school, and there were children playing.

Parents were watching their children playing from the benches, and Kiernan actually recognized one of them.

"Principal."

Kiernan approached one of the benches with a smile on his face.

"Ah?"

Recognizing the voice, Azer turned over, his eyes widening in shock, and he immediately stood up as a sign of respect.

"Mister Kiernan,"

He shook Kiernan's hand, and it was obvious that he wasn't treating him as just his student anymore.

He was treating Kiernan as his equal, because in terms of martial rank, Kiernan had already surpassed him!

"What are you doing over here?"

Azer asked in surprise.

He had no idea that Kiernan was currently in Irio, as he thought he would still be in the Capital City preparing to head over to the Black Rock Island.

"Visiting my father. What are you doing in this playground?"

Kiernan sat down, and so did Azer, who turned to look at one of the girls, who was playing in one of the playground's sandboxes.

"Spending some time with my sister's child… And enjoying the beautiful morning of Irio!"

He said, and had a plastic mug of coffee beside him, which he took a sip of while gazing at the gray skies of Irio.

To many outsiders, these gray skies would look gloomy, but Irio's citizens had grown to like them.