Martial Arts Worlds

Eight years ago, Tiamut.

A young Kara sat on a sandpit, building a messy-looking sandcastle. It was barely holding together.

The rest of the playground was filled with children and their parents.

"What are you building?" A young-sounding voice came from behind her.

"Sandcastle!" Kara excitedly said and turned around to see a boy with bored-looking eyes.

"Want to help?"

"No." The young Johan said. "It's childish."

"Childish?" Kara pouted and handed him a small red bucket. "You just don't know how to make one!"

Johan looked at the red bucket, took it, and crouched next to her.

"Just put sand in the bucket, and then what?"

"Make a tower!" Kara excitedly taught him. "Right there!"

Johan filled the bucket with the sand and then placed the bucket upside down on the sandpit so that the sand inside the bucket would form a perfect cone shape.

However, when he removed the bucket, the cone shape collapsed.

"Hehe." Kara giggled. "It's not that easy now, is it?"

"Still boring." Johan dropped the red bucket, stood up, and patted the sand off his trousers.

At that moment, the bell dinged from some distance away, and the parents left with their children, only leaving the two of them here.

"Where are your parents?" Johan asked.

"At work!" Kara patted her small hands at the sand cone. "They always work late."

"I see." Johan turned around, planning to leave.

"What about yours?" Kara asked curiously with her round, big eyes.

"Home, probably." Johan kicked at the sand. "I don't really care."

"Mm…" Kara nodded thoughtfully and continued building her sandcastle.

However, at that moment, a rowdy crowd of middle schoolers came to the playground; some started playing basketball while others ran around screaming and laughing.

One of the middle schoolers ran across the sandpit and kicked down Kara's sandcastle.

The sandcastle crumbled apart into a pile of sand, leaving Kara in shock and disbelief.

"My sandcastle!" She looked hurt and turned to the boy who kicked at it. "Why did you do that?"

"It is just some stupid sandcastle!" The black-haired boy laughed. "You should have built it stronger if you wanted it to last!"

Johan looked at the broken sandcastle, looked pissed, and turned to the boy.

"Apologize to her."

"Huh?" The boy turned to him and scoffed. "What did you say pipsqueak? Why would I?"

After hearing the commotion, the boy's friends walked over to him and asked what was going on.

"I happened to kick that stupid sandcastle down, and they're acting like it is the end of the world!"

Hearing that, his friends laughed.

Kara looked at her destroyed sandcastle, tears forming in her eyes, and started picking up her small buckets, wanting to leave the playground before she burst into tears.

Johan walked past Kara, his hands tightening into fists.

"I said apologize!"

"Huh? You're loud!" The boy kicked Johan down to the ground.

Johan fell over the crumbled sandcastle, feeling angrier than ever before, and then he got back up and dusted off the sand from his back.

"You still want to fight, pipsqueak?" The boy cracked a smirk.

Kara looked up at Johan with teary eyes and said, "Let's leave; I don't want to be here anymore…"

"Apologize!" Johan screamed.

"Tch!" The boy swung his fist, but Johan dodged it and stepped one pace closer to him.

With his tight right fist, Johan reeled it far back, and then without any warning, smashed it into the boy's stomach.

The boy's eyes immediately widened like saucers, and he was sent flying backwards with a pained expression on his face.

He flew off the playground landing in a heap on the grassy ground.

His friends looked frightened to the core. The boy lay motionless, gasping for air.

"M-monster!" His friends looked at Johan as if he were some kind of monster, and then they all ran away.

"Yeah, I know…" Johan looked at his fist that was still trembling and then fearfully turned towards Kara, expecting her to look at him like some kind of monster.

However, Kara's eyes were shining in excitement.

"Wow!" She exclaimed. "How did you do that? You punched, and boom, that sound was so loud!"

"Eh?" Johan looked at her in surprise and shrugged his shoulders. "That happens when I punch."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Amazing!" Kara jumped to her feet with a smile. "You know martial arts?!"

"No…" Johan shook his head. "Not really."

"I heard they opened a new martial arts dojo at the mall. Maybe we should check it out!"

"We?" Johan raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I want to become strong!" Kara showed her arms, trying to show muscles, but it only looked cute as her arms were thin and delicate.

"I don't know if I should…" Johan sighed and sat down on the sandpit. "I've been called a monster since I remember. Even my parents…"

"Why would they call you with such rude remark?" Kara tilted her head in confusion.

"Someone of my age shouldn't be able to punch the way I do." Johan hugged his legs.

"Apparently I have some condition that gives me a superhuman level of strength. The doctors say that it is a blessing, but my parents call it a curse…"

"What do you think?" Kara asked with a smile.

"I don't know…" Johan shook his head.

At that moment, Kara handed him her soft-looking hand and smiled. "Let's find out together, shall we?"

Johan looked at the hand and said. "I don't think we should touch hands. I might accidentally break your hand."

"Hehe." Kara still grabbed his hand and shook it with a sweet smile. "I trust you won't break it."

"…" Johan looked at her round eyes and said. "You're strange."

"Eh?" Kara scratched the back of her head. "I am?"

Johan slowly stood up and dusted off the sand. "Where was this martial arts dojo?"

"At the mall! Let's go!"

…

Johan and Kiernan stood silently in the corridor, facing each other with their backs against the wall.

"It sounds like I was born as a monster, and you were made into one." Johan laughed. "I am looking forward to our match, Kiernan."

"Me too." Kiernan said, and watched as Johan walked away.

When he had walked away, he checked the time on the phone and saw that it was ten minutes before they had to walk to the big ring.

The phone was already buzzing with messages as his teammates were asking where the hell he was.

"Hmm~" Kiernan pocketed the phone and started heading back to the locker room.

Within the same pocket, he could feel the Iron Style pill rolling between his fingers.

'Push me to my limits, Johan Yeager, and I shall show you my peak.' Kiernan smiled.