Martial Arts Worlds

There was about a twenty-minute break before the semifinals, and thus, Jock headed to the vending machine that he happened to see outside.

The vending machine was by the corner, in the shade of the large venue, and it was fully stocked with a variety of snacks and drinks.

"Drinks… drinks…"

Jock rubbed his chin as he saw that there was a decent selection of sports drinks available.

There were also some sugary drinks, but he had stopped drinking those ever since he started his martial arts training.

In the end, he chose one of the sports drinks, slid a gold coin into the vending machine, and grabbed the bottle with a smile on his face.

He took a taste of it, and despite not liking it very much, he still drank the whole thing to quench his thirst.

"Hey, you're Jock, right?"

In that moment, two rather cute-looking girls approached him. One of them had shorter hair, while the other had long hair with sparkling innocent eyes.

They were the type of girls that would be insanely popular over in their schools, with every guy wanting to be their boyfriend.

"Y-Yes?"

Jock was taken aback by their sudden approach.

"We have a favor to ask from you~"

The short-haired girl innocently clapped her hands together and closed her left eye with a cute attempt to wink.

"Okay…?"

Jock scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Is it possible for us to get an autograph from Kiernan? Could you ask him to sign our shirts, please?"

She asked.

"Uhm…"

Jock had a look of realization and should've known that they were after something, as girls as pretty as them wouldn't approach him otherwise.

"I think he is busy, sorry…"

"Oh…"

The two girls looked disappointed, and without even saying goodbye, they turned and walked away.

"Who were they?"

In that moment, Cleo appeared from behind the corner and asked with her arms crossed. There was a strangely icy look in her eyes.

"They wanted the master's autograph. They wanted me to be their errand boy. If they wanted one, they should've just gone and asked…"

Jock said and nudged his glasses.

"Oh."

Cleo smiled, went to the vending machine, and bought a drink as well. She then chatted with Jock as they headed back to the venue.

…

With a ring of the bell, the audience headed back to their seats from their short dinner break and focused their attention on the arena.

There were only three stages left. Two small and the largest stage. The semifinals were going to be held in the small stages, and then the finals at the largest.

In that moment, the four remaining participants of the first round stepped onto their platform and bowed in three directions.

They bowed at the audience. They bowed at the referee. They then bowed at each other.

"Let's have a fair and nice match."

The referee said, and to begin the introductions, he pointed his right arm at the blond-haired boy opposite of him.

"In the white corner, we have Axe from the United Arts Dojo, and this is currently his second tournament appearance. He is fifteen years old and is a Low Stage Martial Soldier!"

With that said, he then pointed towards Jock with his left arm.

"In the black corner, we have Jock from the Martial Redemption Dojo, and this is currently his first tournament appearance. He is fifteen years old and is a Low Stage Martial Recruit!"

The shout echoed throughout the venue.

'A whole martial rank difference…'

Jock started to feel quite nervous, but as soon as he took Iron Style's defensive stance, it disappeared like a fart in the wind.

Axe pushed his fist against his open palm, bowed at a sharp angle, and then took his stance, which was very aggressive-looking.

His left leg was way in front. It caused his knees to be at a ninety-degree angle. His right leg was further back, the heel turned outwards in a way that looked painful.

Axe's hands were positioned beside his waist and at the front, clenched in a fist. His eyes were locked on Jock.

"Whistle~"

"Whistle~"

The two whistles sounded as both matches started at the same time, and then the referees swung their arms down.

"FIGHT!"

Flash!

As soon as Jock blinked his eyes, Axe disappeared from his view, and a solid blow landed in his chest.

Thump!

"Ah?"

Jock's eyes shook, and as he turned his head around, Axe was suddenly there, standing close to the edge of the platform.

'What is that insane speed? I couldn't even see him!'

At the bench, Kiernan squinted his eyes and had a troublesome look on his face.

'Natural Fighter. The natural flexibility and speed. The worst kind of opponent for Jock to meet at this time. I haven't prepared him to meet someone so fast.

'His speed is even ridiculous by higher standards. When Ryan was Martial Soldier, he wasn't this fast. Axe must be twice as quick!'

"Whistle~"

The referee blew into a whistle and raised his arm.

"One point for Axe!"

Jock quickly jumped away from Axe to distance himself, but as soon as he did that, he realized his mistake.

'Don't back away!'

Kiernan screamed inwardly.

With a smile on his face, Axe dashed forward. He disappeared. The next moment, another hit landed in Jock's chest.

"Whistle~ One point for Axe!"

'I reacted instinctively. Because of his crazy speed, I must keep the fight close so he cannot use that ridiculous running speed of his!'

Jock screamed to himself and thought that he was a fucking idiot for making such a silly and simple mistake.

This time around, he closed in on Axe, but as soon as he tried approaching him, Axe moved past him and tried to land a sneaky jab at his face.

At the last moment, Jock parried the jab but couldn't stop Axe from running to the other end of the platform.

There was now even greater distance between the two of them than before, and thus, he could use even more of his speed to attack.

"Oh, you parried my attack? Not bad."

Axe said with a smile.

However, he didn't mind it, as from such a close range, he couldn't use most of his speed, but it didn't mean that his attack was slow.

It was really quick, but Jock's reaction time was truly impressive to manage to defend against that.

'What can I do? He just waits for me to blink to make the move, and then I can't do anything except helplessly stand!'

Jock thought in a panic with cold sweat running down his back.