Martial Arts Worlds

At the Foaming Drink Inn.

The door opened with a chime.

"Welcome~" Raquel greeted, and after seeing who entered, her eyes brightened. "Kiernan!"

Kiernan stepped through the door with a bag in hand and a freshly cut haircut that showed off his handsome, sharp features.

When he heard Raquel's voice, she was already walking towards him and hugged him tightly and warmly.

"Glad to see you alright." Kiernan said with a smile.

They visited the inn about an hour and a half ago, but Raquel and Thegan were still sleeping, so they didn't have their long-awaited reunion, but now they were fully awake.

Thegan came from the backroom and also couldn't help but smile. They were very worried for Kiernan's well-being as he got severely injured for trying to help his daughter.

"Yo." Julian came through the door and asked. "Raquel, you got your dress ready?"

"Yep~" Raquel said with a sweet smile. "I went shopping with my father yesterday."

"You're also coming to the party?" Kiernan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Raquel nodded with a smile.

"We're able to bring our dates." Julian said. "Raquel had always wanted to visit the castle, so I invited her to come with me."

"Ok." Kiernan nodded and then walked to Thegan. "About the payment of our room, I'll be forfeiting our room tomorrow."

"Ah?" Thegan looked surprised. "Well, I haven't been keeping up with your payments. How could I after you saved my daughter? The room's free as long as you want, but you're leaving tomorrow?"

"Why tomorrow?" Raquel asked with a sad voice.

"I must go back home." Kiernan said with a smile.

"Is that so…" Thegan nodded and shook his hand. "Once more, thank you. I can't thank you enough. I don't know what I would've done if I lost my daughter too."

Kiernan nodded and then headed to his room to hang his suit so that it would be ready for tonight's party.

"Are you also leaving?" Raquel turned to Julian and asked with her round eyes moistening with tears.

"I don't know…" Julian whispered as he was lost in his thoughts. "I am not quite sure what I am supposed to do."

…

The bridge of the Abracadabra Castle lowered slowly, creaking as it touched the ground. It was crossing the dirty little river that ran right beside the castle.

The guests started to pour inside the castle, and as everyone began gathering inside the castle's grand ballroom, the beautiful moon started hovering high in the sky.

The grayish moon was long gone.

It was a crimson moon—True Moon—as most people called it, and as the crimson glow fell over the city, everyone went to their balconies or front steps to watch in awe.

Overlooking the grand ballroom, Karl-Michael Abracadabra sat on his high-end throne, the tall windows behind him showing the True Moon at its full glory.

Karl-Michael had a crimson suit—fitting the crimson moon—and he looked both regal and very stern, as if he hadn't smiled once during his long life.

He was the head of the Abracadabra Family and also one of the five Navy Admirals, the true powerhouse of the seas—a man who commanded fear and respect in equal measure.

The doors of the ballroom stayed open as more and more guests poured in. Thankfully, the ballroom was enormous, and even though there were already a few hundred guests present, it looked like many more would fit.

While the adults mingled together, the children of the nobles gathered around the dining tables, eating and savoring the beautiful dishes.

At that moment, one of the children stuffed his mouth with food, making his cheeks expand like a chipmunk's cheeks.

"Ugh…" Christmas lowered her book and looked at the boy with disgust. "Kiah, you are such a pig."

"Huh?" Kiah looked up with a mouthful of food. "Its food. Food is supposed to be eaten. Stupid!" Experience more tales on empire

Christmas' eyebrow twitched, and she then returned back to her book, uninterested in anything that was happening around her as if the book was the only thing in the world.

"Little brother, have some manners." Marco said, and ate some of the food with a fork, looking very civilized. "You're not in your own room where you can act like a slob."

"Hmph!" Kiah munched on the food and asked. "Where is Zeus? I want to share some food with him!"

"Swallow the food first!" Marco massaged his temples. "Disgusting…"

"Hmph!" Kiah returned to his food.

At that moment, through the ballroom's entrance, Kiernan strutted in, looking like his usual confident self, and he looked around the packed ballroom with a frown.

He wasn't the biggest fan of the crowded places.

While entering the castle, he got separated from Julian and Raquel. Thus, he was all alone. However, he also didn't care much because he had a feeling that they wanted to be together for the party.

'I'm not third-wheeling, shit.' Kiernan looked around to see where to go, as he didn't just want to stand still and do nothing.

He also had to somehow find his mother, which was as easy as finding a needle in a haystack.

While looking around, he noticed the dining tables. There were mostly people of his age there, and one of the tables looked fairly empty.

There was just one person sitting there.

'Well, I am hungry, and this gives me a chance to socialize.' Kiernan thought and walked to the table.

"Hello, is the table occupied?" He asked from the only person sitting at the table.

"Go ahead," the young man lazily waved his hand without taking his stare off the phone.

'Great, his gaze is stuck in that phone; good luck socializing with someone like that. Shit!'

Kiernan shrugged his shoulders and sat down across from the young man. There was food right in the middle of the table.

He took some food for himself and began to eat, not bothering to engage in conversation with the young man.

'Black hair. Red eyes,' Kiernan thought as he looked around the ballroom. 'That narrows it down… slightly. Why do so many Abracadabra family members have black hair as well?'

"Swipe… swipe… swipe… swipe…"

The young man muttered as he swiped his thumb across the phone screen. He looked so immensely bored that it was a surprise he wasn't falling asleep yet.

"You're a foreigner, right?" He suddenly said, and turned his red eyes at Kiernan.

'Red eyes… another Abracadabra child.'

"Yes." Kiernan nodded.

"Are there better women out there?"

The young man crossed his legs and showed the phone screen.

The screen showed a dating app.

"I've been using this app for the past week, and all matches are from uglies. I'm starting to lose hope; I guess I am forced to go back to brothels, shit!"

"Uhh, can't tell you, never used it." Kiernan said.

"I hate this place." The young man pocketed his phone. "All good-looking people in this shithole of a place are someone from my family. That sucks, y'know, because I am not into incest, y'know.

"Anyways, my name is Zeus. What's yours?"

'Zeus?' Kiernan's eyes widened in surprise. 'Wasn't he at the top of the rankings in the Game?'