Martial Arts Worlds

Three in the afternoon, Montrael Middle School.

The bells of the school rang loudly. The school day was over. The excited students poured out of the school buildings.

"Where are you heading off to, Mack?"

"Training, training~ I didn't like my performance at the last tournament, so I am trying to learn new moves until the next one. What about you, Lester?"

"Home… I have to help my father renovate the new garage. I'd like to also join you over in the dojo, but I have too much going on right now."

"I get that~"

The friends talked among themselves, and while they were pouring out of the school gates, there was a roadside stand not that far away that caught few people's attention.

[Looking for new students - Martial Redemption!]

Under the shelter of the stand, a gray-haired Kiernan leaned his back against the chair's backrest, fidgeting with his fingers.

At the table in front of him, there were pamphlets about Martial Redemption dojo and papers for new students to join.

While students walked by, they noticed Kiernan. The girls thought he was handsome, and the boys could swear that they had seen him somewhere.

"H-Hey, isn't that Kiernan Hunter?!"

"That Kiernan Hunter? It can't be. Why the hell would he be in Montrael out of all places, and outside our school recruiting students for some dojo?"

"Haven't you heard? There have been reports of Kiernan Hunter being in Montrael ever since the news broke out that he has been found. He disappeared for, like, six months!"

"I also heard that he has received his master status over in Montrael, so it sounds like he is planning to stay in Montrael!"

"I guess because this is a tier 1 country. I think he was from a tier 4 country, right?"

"Yeah, from New Rakuya!"

Several students got very interested and approached the stand with nervous steps, and when Kiernan's gray eyes landed on them, they became very bashful.

"H-Hey, you are Kiernan Hunter, right?"

Jenny asked.

She was with her childhood friend, Alex, who was also staring at Kiernan with wide eyes.

They were quite starstruck. They watched this young man before them fight against Beast Prince Arazimir on the television, and he won!

There wasn't a huge age gap between them. About four years only. Yet the difference between them was enormous.

"That's me. Are you interested in learning the wonderful art of Martial Arts?"

Kiernan asked with a smile.

"Y-Yeah…"

Alex said excitedly and looked at one of the pamphlets that mentioned Iron Style.

They thought they were going to be taught by Kiernan's master, as he had to have a great master for him to get this strong so quickly.

Getting taught by a master who taught the greatest talent of this generation would be amazing, and even if it were expensive, they were determined to get their parents to pay as much as necessary!

"Iron Style, whoah. Who is the master teaching? Do we know him? Is he possibly one of the powerhouse Emperors of the World?"

"Actually I am the master of Martial Redemption dojo. I created Iron Style from the ground up, and thus, I am the one who will be teaching you."

Kiernan said.

"Oh…"

Jenny and Alex awkwardly looked at each other. They then awkwardly chuckled, and with her innocent voice, Jenny said.

"W-We will talk with our parents about joining."

With that said, Jenny and Alex scurried away, while a few other students, who were waiting their turn, heard what Kiernan said and also left.

'…They didn't even ask where my dojo is located, so I doubt I will see those two anymore. It looks like people are more afraid to be taught by someone of my age than I initially thought.'

Kiernan thought.

While the school was slowly getting emptied of students, several more students came to check his stand, and Kiernan said the exact same things as he said to Jenny and Alex.

In return, he received similar responses, and not a single student took one of the pamphlets or even thought about joining.

To not seem rude, they just said some lies about their interest in joining the dojo, and they left with a hurry in their steps.

There weren't any more students coming to check his stand out, and thus, Kiernan started packing up his things for the day.

A distance away, the spies of one of the mighty dojos watched from far away and chuckled among themselves.

"As expected."

"I wonder if he is already feeling discouraged, haha!"

"What did he honestly expect? He went to recruit middle school students, who mostly aren't even awakened yet.

"The early ranks of Martial Arts pathway, and the awakening state are very delicate times in a martial artist's life.

"They need guidance from someone who knows best, and not some snot-nosed brat who is still wet behind his ears!"

"Exactly. It doesn't matter how popular Kiernan is; he has zero reputation as a teacher, and no one with brains would want to get taught by him."

"If he teaches wrong, he might genuinely hurt a person's martial soul and cause it to crack. It would put an end to their martial arts career before it even properly began!"

…

With the sky turning orange, Kiernan opened the iron gate and stepped into the small yard with a serious contemplation on his face.

In that moment, he saw that there was a tree at the corner of the yard. It wasn't there this morning. It was also a cherry blossom tree.

"Welcome back~"

With a gentle and kind expression, Aoi walked out from the dojo and embraced the hard-working Kiernan with a smile.

"That tree… You managed to get one?"

Kiernan asked in surprise.

"I thought it would be a nice surprise. I managed to find someone who could do it on short notice, and while cherry blossom trees are one of the most expensive kinds, I thought it was just fitting for the dojo. What do you think?"

She asked with a proud smile.

"…It looks great. Thank you."

Kiernan touched Aoi's chin, and her expression melted like a young girl in love. He then kissed her lips and took her hand as they walked inside the dojo together.

"How did it go?"

She asked about the recruiting.

"…Not good. There were few students that were interested, but once I told them that I am the master, they all turned around and left."

Kiernan said with self-mocking laughter.

"Oh… It's fine. Someone will come knocking soon enough that would love to get taught by you!"

Aoi said with certainty.

Knock! Knock!

At that moment, a sound of knocking came from over the iron gate. It was like fate had brought someone they needed to their doorstep.