Martial Arts Worlds

Tiamut's Training Village looked like a quaint and picturesque haven in the middle of the forest.

It was a place enclosed by tall, thick wooden walls that circled the entire village. Its cozy, wooden cottages were nestled between the trees, with smoke rising from their chimneys on this crisp autumn morning.

Alongside the wooden cottages—which were the temporary homes of the visitors—there were many training facilities, and to top it all off, there was a sizeable open-ceiling arena where it was possible to spar against opposing teams.

With all that, there was also a small beach north of the village. It was used for training and for relaxation.

It was clear that Tiamut's government had spent a small fortune to build this place. It was very inviting—almost like a summer camp—kind of the place.

At that moment, the village's heavy gates opened, and a bus drove in. It was a small bus. It came to a stop in front of one cottage that was painted bright blue with a white picket fence. It was also leaning against a grassy hill, as if the cottage had grown up from the ground.

The bus's door slid open, and people stepped out. They all wore white jerseys with black flower patterns dripping down the front and back. In their hands, similar patterned and colored bags swung as they took in the sights of the beautiful village.

"Whoah…" Nath took off his sunglasses and watched as vibrant-looking young men and women hung around their cottages, chatting and laughing in the sunshine. "This is the famous Tiamut's Training Village."

"It's beautiful, ain't it?" Jin said it with a laugh and looked over to their cottage. "This'll be Karuza High's place for a while. It is reserved for us till the end of the nationals."

Nath put his arm around Ryan's shoulders and laughed. "Roommates!"

"Absolutely not." Ryan shrugged off his arm and headed inside. Nath followed right behind with a jokingly hurt expression.

After Klaus and Timothy stepped out of the bus, Kiernan stepped out into the outside air. It was a very hot and long bus ride to get here.

They took a train trip to Tiamut—a place that was only three hours away from Irio—and then straight to the bus station. It took two hours to get from Tiamut to here.

At that moment, four more people stepped out of the bus—they were Kang, Shura, Leon, and Jonathan.

Kang was dressed in light clothing and shorts, while Shura was wearing a long, flowy dress. Leon and Jonathan were both in jeans and t-shirts.

While Kang, Shura, and Leon came to be practice partners, Jonathan came as a future prospect.

Jin thought highly of him and was thrilled to hear that he was joining Karuza High—even more happy than about Kang, Shura, and Leon.

It was because Kang, Shura, and Leon couldn't join their team anymore. The team had already been registered with the Nationals. However, Jonathan would most likely fight in their colors next year.

Jonathan didn't care about the beautiful village and looked over to Kiernan. Their relationship was far from good. He thought Kiernan would be very much against him joining, but he didn't say a word.

"Go unpack your stuff, choose your room, and get settled." Jin said to them: "Well, start the training as soon as we can."

"Yes, coach." Kang, Shura, and Leon echoed in unison.

After they and Jonathan headed inside, Jin noticed that Kiernan took a seat on the porch and seemed lost in thought.

"Is everything alright?" JIn asked as he had to know his fighter's mental state. If they didn't feel good, it could negatively affect their training performance.

"Yeah, just enjoying the fresh air." Kiernan said this and put his back against the wooden chair.

It was a lie.

Even he didn't know what was going on inside his body. It was strange. Ever since he met Jonathan again in the train station, his emotions were going rampant.

He thought he would feel anger towards a person who apparently killed him; however, he didn't. It was strange.

'While me and former Kiernan have now become a single entity, his emotions sometimes influence me in strange ways. It's like a memory that I don't remember, but he does and feels anger about it, so then I feel it as well.

'He clearly remembers Jonathan. However, he doesn't feel anger for some reason. I wonder why.

'Maybe it's puberty once again. I am, after all, only sixteen years old. I think, feel, and act like a sixteen year old boy. I only have my experiences and memories that are older than my age.'

Jin, seeing that he seemed fine, nodded and entered the cottage. Before he could even remove his shoes, the blond-haired Jonathan walked over to him and glanced simultaneously towards the porch.

"Hey, coach." Jonathan said nervously.

"What is it, Jonathan?"

"I wanted to speak about one thing…" Jonathan let out a deep sigh and said, "Kiernan most likely doesn't want me here."

"Uh, why?" Jin frowned.

"I, uh, defeated him in a tournament a while back—well, it was barely over a week ago—and we ended up in another fight outside afterwards. I am not ashamed to admit that I lost that one.

"Our relationship isn't the greatest. If it ends up bothering the training, I am willingly ready to leave."

"Oh, I see…" Jin scratched his chin with a frown. 'Sounds troublesome. It's better to get it settled as soon as possible. Kiernan will be the star of Karuza High for years to come, but Jonathan will be a valuable asset to him.

'If they can work together, Karuza High can reach new heights.'

"Talk to him." Jin said and patted him on the shoulder. "Settle the beef between you two as soon as possible."

"Alright, I'll try…" Jonathan said reluctantly and stepped outside of the cottage into the porch.

Kiernan was still sitting on his wooden chair, gazing out to the village while enjoying the sun's warm rays on his face—it was also clear that his face had slowly started to mature, with hints of handsomeness sprouting from his features.

"Uhm, yo." Jonathan awkwardly waved his hand.

"Hello," Kiernan replied shortly.

An awkward silence fell between them.

Tap, tap—Kiernan tapped his finger on the wooden chair's armrest. He had no intention to speak unless he was spoken to first.

"Uhm…" Jonathan scratched his head. "I hope there's no bad feeling about what happened back then."

"Bad feelings?" Kiernan looked at him and pointed at the back of his head. "You almost split my skull in half. I could've died, y'know."

"Huh?" Jonathan frowned with a confused expression. "I-I don't think I did that."

"What do you mean?" Kiernan frowned. "You forgot that you almost killed me?"

"No, I mean…" Jonathan recalled the events and said, "I threw you to the ground, yes, but you fell on your back. I thought you would stand back up, but after the 10-second countdown ended, you were still lying there."

"What?" Kiernan's eyes turned sharp. "Are you lying?"

"Haven't you checked the recording of the video?" Jonathan asked and pulled out his phone. He had the video recorded. "My mother usually records my fights, so she sent me the video of our fight."

Kiernan finally stood up from the chair and went to check the recording of the fight.

Just like Jonathan said, his throw slammed Kiernan to the ground. It was a powerful throw, but his head didn't hit the ground enough to crack his skull in almost half.

Instead, what happened afterwards was the strangest part—the referee came to check on him, and it was only a quick moment, but the referee touched Kiernan's head.

It was a strange part to touch, as they would usually touch the throat to check the pulse.

The video ended at that point.

"See." Jonathan said with a smile. "So about what happened after the match, I don't harbor grudges. So no bad feelings?"

"Tell Jin that I'll return tomorrow morning." Kiernan said coldly and headed straight towards the bus, as the driver hadn't left yet.

"E-eh, what?!" Jonathan cried out.

"I'll have some businesses to take care of." Kiernan's said.

If Jonathan saw his face right now, he would have a heart attack—his face looked demonic and filled with rage.

This time, Kiernan felt true anger—it came from the depths of his very being.