Martial Arts Worlds

The fight in the infirmary came to an end, and Animal Kingdom and human representatives went in different ways.

However, still lingering near the infirmary, several news reporters had their eyes glued to the backs of Kiernan and Beast Prince Arazimir.

"This is an amazing scoop!"

"Is there a new rivalry brewing? We definitely have to write about Kiernan completely embarrassing those two Animal Kingdom representatives!"

"For sure… There isn't a lot of hope left in humanity after losing the first match, but this might be the thing to spark that hope back into existence!"

The news reporters said excitedly.

…

Early the next morning, a postman rode a bicycle down a nice little neighborhood in the outskirts of town, whistling a cheerful tune.

He took a newspaper from his bag and tossed it to the front porch of a quaint little house with a white picket fence.

The door opened, and still in her morning robes, an elderly woman picked up the newspaper and walked back inside.

"How long are you planning to sleep?!"

She shouted upstairs, where her old husband was still snuggled under the blanket, with no intention to move a muscle.

After not hearing a word, she sighed and walked upstairs to wake him up herself. She arrived in the room and saw that he was awake.

"Did you not hear me?"

"I heard you! I am just not interested in moving!"

"What's up with you? You've been acting since yesterday!"

She said.

"…It's because of those animals. When they win the tournament, we'll have to forfeit some of our territory to them.

"We're on the border of human territory, quite close to Animal Kingdom, so this land will belong to animals!

"We have to move away unless we want to become their little slaves, but my family has been living here since the Age of Fist and Blood!"

The old man said grudgingly.

"Humans have not lost yet; stop giving up already!"

The old woman said.

"…Bah, we have lost. Only a blind owl would see otherwise. It was clear as the sky from the first match already!"

The old man crossed his arms, snuggled further under the blanket, and turned around on his side to turn his back to his wife.

The old woman shook her head. She sat down on the reclining chair by the chair. Then she opened the newspaper.

Right on the front page, there was a photograph of two forces—staring at each other with neither backing down—it was a picture of Kiernan and Beast Prince Arazimir staring at each other.

"What in the…"

She quickly read through the paper, and it told about the battle of the infirmary. It made her eyes round up in a surprise.

"Old man, read this!"

She tossed him the newspaper, and he just kept groaning as he wasn't interested at all.

"Come on, you old goat. I think it will interest you, as it is about the tournament!"

"What is it now?"

He turned around on his side, picked up the newspaper, and tiredly unfurled it to see the front page.

When he saw that photograph, his heart beat faster than before. Then he started reading what happened, and his heart started accelerating quicker.

"The second match is happening later today, so why don't you get your butt off the bed, and let's go for a morning walk!"

The old woman said.

In that moment, the old man sat up on the bed, put the newspaper into the drawer for safekeeping, and stood up.

He was tall. Muscular. And definitely someone that had been lifting weights for many years, and despite his old age, he still had the physique of someone half his age.

"…Humans better win so I can see that match happening. Those beasts think so little of us, humans, that someone has to push them down a peg!"

The old man cracked his knuckles. His joints popped. It was like he was gearing up for a fight.

…

"…"

In front of the window, with sunlight shining through, Antigone was meditating while trying to calm down her emotions.

It wasn't really working, as her heart was pumping like a racehorse on steroids. It felt like her heart was ready to jump out of her chest.

Knock! Knock!

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Antigone shouted, opened her eyes, and turned to the door.

With a newspaper in hand, Xerxus entered the room and saw that she was busy meditating.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?"

He asked.

"…Not good. I feel quite sick."

Antigone said.

She just spent the last hour on the toilet, vomiting.

"You're not sick. Just overwhelmed with nervousness."

Xerxus said, twirled the newspaper in hand, and then handed it to her.

"…What is this?"

She asked, opened the first page, and saw the amazing photograph of the two forces staring at each other.

While in the photograph, Kiernan was about a head shorter than Beast Prince Arazimir, but he still didn't seem shorter.

It was like he was emitting a strange kind of aura that just made people think that he was powerful. So powerful!

"In this moment, do you think that Kiernan believed that he could beat Beast Prince Arazimir?"

Xerxus asked.

"…Yes?"

Antigone asked and looked at her master, blinking her cute eyes innocently.

"Haha, no. I think he believed that he would get his ass kicked. However, Kiernan didn't care because he has belief in himself that if they have a rematch, he would win.

"Even if he was going to lose the match, you can bet that Kiernan was planning to put a fear of god into Beast Prince Arazimir so that when they fight again, Arazimir would be quaking in his boots."

Xerxus said with a grin.

"…He would fight even if he knew that he was going to lose?"

Antigone asked.

"Sometimes, there is no other choice. What is the point of fighting if you don't want to fight against someone stronger than you?

"Everyone has to fight against someone stronger at some point in time. Would you just give up because you know you're going to lose? No, that goes against the principle of martial arts.

"The stronger belief you have, the stronger your martial soul will be. Your martial rank is lower than your opponent, but so what?"

Xerxus looked at his student, who stayed silent during his speech, and then she stood up with a deep sigh leaving her mouth.

"I won't lose. I have the best teacher in the world, after all."

With a smile, Antigone hugged her master, which surprised Xerxus as she hadn't hugged him before, and then she ran out of the room to go somewhere.

Xerxus checked the timepiece. There was still time. And his expression turned to that of shock, as he had a hunch what she was planning to do.

'Is she… planning to rank up before the match?'