Martial Arts Worlds

"Yay, good job!"

Cleo clapped hands with Jock with both of her hands—a double high-five—and was all smiles.

"T-thank you…"

Jock replied with a slight blush, and as he nudged his glasses, he turned to look at Master Kiernan, who nodded.

"Well done. You quickly thought of a trap and acted on it."

Kiernan said.

"If I had more time to think, I probably wouldn't have done it. It was pretty risky since I couldn't really see all that well when I tried grabbing his wrist."

Jock said with a chuckle.

"…Your glasses might be in the way. If you get hit on your face, your glasses might shatter and hurt your eyes. Your opponents might also target your glasses."

Kiernan said.

"Hmm…"

Jock touched his glasses and asked.

"What should I do? I can't see without glasses."

"It is something that we can only deal with at a later date. Keep your face protected just in case someone tries to play dirty."

Kiernan said.

"Got it!"

In the platforms, other matches also ended, and Khan ended up victorious over in his match. He pretty much played with his opponents.

The next round was going to be the quarterfinals of the first block, but before that, the matches of the second block began.

"Wish me luck~"

Cleo waved her hand and walked towards the platform with a small smile on her face. She met her opponent there, took her stance, and the referee then started the match.

Usually, Cleo would take the initiation, and attack her opponent first, like it was taught over in the Ok Family Dojo.

However, she was using Iron Style's defensive stance, so she wasn't going to attack first. It was completely different from the way she used to fight.

She didn't mind it.

Her opponent rushed straight at her.

His fighting style was strange, trying to push his head at her like a bull with the horns of a ram.

She didn't back down and steered him into a corner. She controlled her momentum perfectly with just a single touch at the shoulder.

It was the wonders of the Iron Style stance and rock-solid defense!

The boy kept attacking her, and Cleo redirected each move with ease. She didn't take a single step out of her starting position.

A hazy image of a mighty fortress appeared behind her until it disappeared once again.

At that moment, the boy overcommitted with a lunge, and Cleo swiftly sidestepped him and smacked her hand at his back.

"One point!"

The referee announced.

The boy climbed back to his feet and swung at Cleo. She jabbed her hands into his stomach, causing him to double over in pain.

"One point!"

The referee put his arm up and shouted.

"Ngh!"

With a moan of pain, the boy tried to grab her from the collar, but she slipped under and jabbed her fist into his jaw, knocking him to the ground.

He stayed down, holding his jaw, and moaning in pain.

"One point! With three points, the winner is Cleo!"

After bowing to her opponent and the referee, Cleo walked back to the bench with a smile on her face.

"Good job!"

Jock said with a smile, clapping his hands, and Cleo smiled at him, but then she saw that Kiernan wasn't paying attention to her.

She followed his line of light and saw that he was looking at a match happening further back.

It was Lumian's fight, and at first, she didn't notice anything strange, but then she noticed his strange way of fighting.

Lumian's opponent was coming at him constantly, trying to land hits for points, and Lumian just pushed him away.

It was like a father play-fighting against his son. It didn't really look fair.

The referee also had a frown on his face, and he knew that Lumian could have already won if he wanted to, but he kept playing with his food.

"Why is Lumian doing that?"

Cleo asked with a sad-looking frown.

"…"

Kiernan let out a sigh, stood up, and then said.

"It will take a while until quarterfinals start. I saw a food place across the street, so shall we go eat meanwhile?"

"Sure!"

"Ok!"

Cleo, and Jock said.

While leaving the venue, Kiernan threw a glance at Lumian. Straight at his ice-cold black eyes. Those eyes were familiar.

'Sozen, you idiot.'

Kiernan gritted his teeth.

…

Action Street, Martial Redemption Dojo.

With the sun shining brightly down at the yard, Aoi was sweeping the yard of all the fallen leaves, her long black hair cascading down her back as she worked diligently.

She looked normal at one moment, but then, like a switch had been flicked, her face turned slightly sickly.

"Mmh?"

Aoi dropped the broom to the ground and sat down on the steps, hugging her stomach because of the sudden pain.

It came so suddenly that she couldn't even react before it hit her like a ton of bricks.

For a moment, she thought that she might have a stomachache and was going to get sick, but then, something strange happened.

She felt a sharp pain shoot up her spine instead.

In the darkness of her body, her beautiful martial soul shone like a bright sun in the space, and at that moment, a portion of the soul shed off and started floating further away in the darkness.

That small object turned into another martial soul. It was tiny but still growing and was covered in a thick shell.

This soul hadn't been awakened just yet.

"S-Second martial soul?"

Aoi whispered under her breath, shocked to the core, and then tears started falling from her eyes, and she began choking on her words.

It wasn't a cry of pain. The pain was already gone. It was tears of joy.

"I am… pregnant."

The women of Martial Arts World were capable of telling whether they were pregnant if a second martial soul shed off theirs.

It meant that there was a new life growing inside them, and that martial soul was the beginning of that new life.

"Finally…"

She hugged her stomach tenderly and smiled brightly, feeling overwhelmed with joy and anticipation.