Martial Arts Worlds

Ding, ding!

The final bell of the school day rang.

A sound of students stuffing their backpacks with their school books filled every classroom. Rustling and shuffling of papers.

"Mmh!"

Julian stretched his arms, grabbed his backpack, and turned around to look behind him.

"Yo, Kiernan, I found a nice place to eat yesterday after I was done with ranked matches. Do you want to check it out?"

"You already forgot, huh?" Kiernan wryly smiled and stood up with his backpack. "We gotta start training for nationals. You haven't even met the team yet."

"Ah, right…" Julian yawned and stood up. "Very well. I really don't feel like training, but eh, fuck it."

Kiernan then turned to the door and saw Julia peeking through the door. Then they locked gazes. She waved her hand, indicating for him to come over.

"Let's go." Kiernan said and headed over to Julia with his friend in tow.

Their classmates just watched as they left. A few of them had wanted to speak to them, but none of them dared. It was pretty intimidating to have two of the strongest students in the same school.

They are also clearly very close friends, and they didn't really interact with anyone else in the class.

"Coach is waiting at the gym," Julia said.

"Mm." Kiernan nodded.

"Hello, my name's Julian, what's yours?"

This was the first time Julian laid his eyes on Julia and thought that she was quite pretty. Looking like a person who would be the school's rose—a nickname given to the prettiest girl of the school.

"Julia." She replied with a smile.

She thought that the two friends were like polar opposites. Kiernan had the piercing gaze of a hawk, while Julian had the soft and gentle look of a dove.

"Ah, our names are quite similar!" Julian laughed. "I hope we get along!"

"Mm." Julia smiled with a nod.

She had a feeling that she would get along with Julian, as he seemed like a very sociable person. She was also happy that Karuza High had now another powerhouse.

Julia feared that Kiernan would have to carry their school through the entire nationals. If he happened to get injured, their dreams of championship glory would be shattered.

Now, luckily for their school, they had Julian as well.

After heading out of the school's main building, they went straight to the gymnasium that had its doors wide open.

When they arrived there, there were already three people awaiting them. They hadn't switched to their training outfits yet.

All of them were wearing outdoor clothes.

"Ah, you're here!" Coach Jin said with a smile.

Jonathan turned around and nodded to the three. He didn't feel as uncomfortable as before with them anymore.

It helped to meet them back in the graduation ceremony.

"…"

Dominic fearfully gazed at Kiernan before turning away. He didn't dare to make any small talk. After all, only a year ago, he was still bullying this kid who had now become the strongest student of the school!

"Don't bother changing the clothes!" Coach Jin said. "We're heading out to train!"

"Oh, where?" Julian asked.

"You must be Julian, we haven't met yet." Coach Jin shook his hand. "My name's Jin. You can call me Coach or Coach Jin."

"Alright, coach. So, where are we going?" Julian asked after shaking his hand.

"You will see…"

Coach Jin smiled mysteriously, brought out his van keys from his pocket, and headed to the parking lot with his five students.

With a press of the button on the key, the van beeped twice and came unlocked by the parking lot.

It was an ordinary-looking white van, but it had enough seats for all of them.

"Climb on!"

Coach Jin climbed to the driver's seat, inserted the keys into the ignition, and started the engine with a soft purr.

At the back of the van, Kiernan and Julian sat next to each other at the very back. Dominic and Jonathan sat in front of them, and Julia took a seat at the front next to the coach.

"Seatbelts, please!"

Click! Click! Click!

Clicks sounded as everyone put seatbelts on.

With that, Coach Jin reversed out of the parking spot, then drove straight out of the schoolyard and headed wherever he was taking them.

"So, who are you?" Julian put his head on his hand, looking at the black-haired young man in front of them.

He wondered who he was because he hadn't spoken a word to them.

"Ah, name's Dominic Raze," he replied hastily. "Fourth-ranked."

"Reserve fighter. Right?"

"Yeah…" Dominic nodded slightly.

He was feeling slightly sour that he couldn't beat Jonathan during the ranked match. They had a fight to decide the third spot. Jonathan had beaten him, leaving Dominic to take the fourth spot.

He used to be Karuza High's most talented student, as he became the eighth-ranked student in only his first year. He was almost certain that he would become the main fighter during his second year.

Then, during the third year, he would help Karuza High in reaching the national stage.

However, everything changed as soon as Kiernan Hunter, a fellow first-year student, defeated him and helped their school advance to the quarterfinals of the nationals. Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

It was strange how quickly everything could change.

Their team was currently full of second-year students. Therefore, him becoming the main fighter was pretty much an impossible dream at this point.

It didn't help that Jonathan was clearly way more talented than he was.

Jonathan had reached the High Stage Martial Soldier rank already while Dominic was stuck in the Low Stage Martial Soldier.

He wasn't sure how strong Julian and Kiernan were—but he could tell that the difference between them was as vast as sky and earth.

"Where are we heading, coach?" Julia asked as she watched the buildings go past.

She noticed that they had reached the main streets of Irio. They were passing rows of shops and restaurants.

"We're almost there."

Coach Jin said, and then turned the steering wheel, driving through the entrance to the underground parking lot.

It was quite dim and cold inside.

The van parked in one of the empty parking spots.

"This is…"

Julia looked across the underground parking lot, and saw entrance to something. Her eyes brightened as she realized where they were.