Martial Arts Worlds

"…What was that last night then? Just another one-night stand?"

Karma asked.

He didn't want it to be just that. He wanted it to be more.

"I…"

Bella looked troubled, and she fidgeted her fingers, as she also didn't know what she wanted, but she didn't just do it because she was sexually frustrated.

There were feelings inside her that she couldn't quite explain.

"I have never experienced love, and I have been alone for the longest time, but then Kiernan came along like a light in darkness.

"He gave me happiness back to my dull life, but I was not just satisfied with that, and I wanted to share that happiness with someone else.

"Seeing Aoi and Kiernan get wedded… I felt very jealous. I have never wanted to get married as much as I did yesterday."

Bella said.

"…I know how you feel, and I have also been very lonely. I haven't gotten together with anyone because my heart has never had enough space for another one.

"Twenty years ago, you left an everlasting impact on my heart, and I have been unable to shake it off."

Karma said.

"I don't know if you and I will work."

Bella said with a sad look.

"…Why?"

Karma asked with a frown.

"You are Martial Grandmaster. I am Martial Legend, and our son, Kiernan, will become Immortal and above.

"While I won't be aging as much and our son will be living thousands of years, you will grow old and will leave me.

"How long can we stay happy? Twenty years, maybe? You will be growing old by then, and I will be alone again.

"This is the shitty thing about Martial Arts Pathway. It is hard to find love with someone that will stand by your side till death."

Bella said with a trembling voice.

"…What if I become Martial King?"

Karma said with a serious look.

"…You have gone past the Age of Growth already. Your talent has already been extinguished, and if you hadn't entered Martial King before the end of the Age of Growth, it would be close to impossible to achieve."

Bella said.

"I will do it."

Karma said with a serious look, stood up, and walked away with determination blazing in his eyes.

The martial soul inside him was weakly beating, but slowly, it started to get energized as if he had turned young again.

"…"

Bella watched him leave, touched her chest, and felt a warmth spreading through her body.

…

Buzz! Buzz!

"Huh?"

Kiernan pulled out his phone from his pocket and saw that he had received a message from his father, Karma.

He was currently alone in a random abandoned house at Nightingale as he finished drawing the ceremony circle on the ceiling.

He was getting ready to teleport over to Pankratios's cave.

"What does he want?"

Kiernan looked curiously at the message, and his father asked him to meet.

"…"

He looked at the phone, then pocketed it, and grabbed his jacket as he headed out. He also wanted to meet Karma and Bella before leaving for good.

He had already done his farewells with Aoi, and he did it early because if he delayed it, he wouldn't want to leave her.

The feeling of love was weighing him down heavily, and honestly, if he could, he would prefer to stay with her as well.

He didn't know what it was, but he had a bad feeling about Dead World and about Mercedes Rosburg.

Kiernan thought it was just because of his nerves, and it was probably going to be fine.

After leaving the abandoned house, he went to the meeting place and found his father, Karma, leaning against a stone wall at an underpass.

"Father?"

Kiernan approached him.

"…Son."

Karma smiled.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Kiernan leaned against the wall next to him and noticed that there was something different about Karma.

The gray aura of loneliness seemed to have disappeared around him, and he was smiling naturally.

"I want to become Martial King."

Karma said.

"Then become one, haha."

Kiernan chuckled.

"…It is sadly not that easy. The Bottleneck of the Weak has been a huge obstacle for me to overcome, and trust me, I have tried for the longest time."

Karma said.

"…I think it is easy for you. You are extremely talented after all, father."

Kiernan said.

"…Me? Talented? Haha, I don't think so."

Karma laughed.

"People have been saying that I got my talent from Bella, but I don't think that is the case. This body's talent came from you."

Kiernan said.

"…You think so?"

Karma said in surprise.

"I know so. If your martial soul hadn't shelled a long time ago, I am sure you could've already become a Martial Emperor.

"This bottleneck of yours is just waiting for you to show your true talent."

Kiernan said.

"…How can I do that?"

Karma asked.

With a quick shift, Kiernan took the stance of Iron Style, and Karma stayed silent, but he did the same.

Their backhands touched.

"…?!"

Kiernan punched. Karma chopped with his backhand and parried it. They stopped moving and exchanged a gaze.

"Hmph!"

Karma suddenly punched, and Kiernan just slightly leaned back to avoid it. The fist stopped inches away from his face.

"Huff… Huff… Huff…!"

Karma breathed heavily.

'How is this so exhausting? I just parried his attack once and punched once, and yet I am feeling like I've run a marathon!'

"You just parried an attack from the supreme master of Iron Style. You think that is something a talentless person can do?"

Kiernan asked with a smile.

"Ah…"

Karma gasped.

In that moment, a layer of his martial soul peeled off, and a wave of power swept through his body like a tidal wave.

Every cell in his body transformed!

Karma stood still with a shocked expression on his face, and he felt overwhelming emotions swelling inside him.

He wanted to cry.

Instead, he embraced Kiernan—his son—tightly and patted him hard in the chest.

"Thank you, my son, I love you."

"…It is all you."

Kiernan smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and whispered."

"I love you too, Dad."

They then shook hands, and while Karma started heading back to Abracadabra Castle to meet with Bella, Kiernan started heading back to the abandoned house.

Heavy feelings took over him.

This was it…

'…Goodbye, everyone.'

Kiernan took a deep breath, steeled himself, and straightened his back to stand tall.