Martial Arts Worlds

The two young men picked up some old controllers from the drawer and booted up one of the fighting games that Julian had purchased for his own account a while back.

The game booted up to the screen; they both chose a character and then arrived at a floating arena in the middle of some kind of digital forest.

"Alright, do you know buttons?" Julian asked as he sat cross-legged on his chair.

"I don't need to know them. I'll crush you." Kiernan grabbed the controller awkwardly and turned to the screen.

"Heh, alright then."

3!

2!

1!

Fight!

The words and numbers flashed by the screen, and the fight then started.

Kiernan's character didn't move an inch. It only put its arms up in defense.

"Defense, what a surprise!" Julian moved his character forward and launched a few low kicks, but Kiernan's character crouched with the defensive stance and blocked the kicks.

Julian's character stood up and started raining punches, but Kiernan just kept defending without moving an inch.

'Heh, if you think that will work, you're mistaken, bucko!'

Julian's character jumped over Kiernan's character. Before he could turn around, Julian's character pummeled Kiernan's character to the ground.

The health bar showed a drastic decrease.

"Shit!" Kiernan quickly turned around and started defending again.

"You cannot win with only defense!" Julian said, while launching a series of powerful attacks.

"Shut up. I am only waiting for a counterattack!"

Beside the health bar, there was another bar that Kiernan hadn't noticed—the power attack bar—and after a few more attacks, it was completely full for Julian.

'And that's game over!'

Julian grinned and pressed the power attack button.

His character put its hands together, a ball of blue energy formed between the fingers, and then it thrust its arm forward, releasing a massive beam of energy that obliterated his opponent.

[GAME OVER!]

"What the hell was that?!" Kiernan exclaimed.

"Oh, you foolish boy." Julian shook his head with a smile. "You weren't prepared for my super attack. I guess I won again~"

"This game sucks." Kiernan tossed the controller to the desk.

"This game is called—Royale of Martial Kings—the characters are supposed to mimic the Martial Kings. All of them have their unique martial abilities.

"The character I chose was Kinetra user. You chose Transformation-type character that has the power to transform into a peacock."

"How do I turn into that peacock?" Kiernan asked with a frown.

"You must fill the power attack bar." Julian said. "You do that by attacking the opponent. Thus, defense doesn't really work well in this game."

"Why not?" Kiernan asked. "The creator of this game is underestimating the defensive style?"

"Maybe, who knows!"

"Who created this game?" Kiernan asked. "I'll go punch them in the face."

"It's some big video game company, and that's an assault, y'know. You can't just go punching people!"

"Yeah, I know. I am just pissed. You sure like to choose shitty games."

"Blame the player, not the game!"

Knock, knock!

After knocking, the door opened.

"Shouldn't you guys go to sleep already?" Karma asked. "School starts early tomorrow. Starts with the opening ceremony before you guys get sorted to your classes."
Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire

"Is there a chance we won't be in the same class?" Julian asked with a frown.

"No need to worry about that." Karma said. "I talked with Azer. He is taking care of your sudden transfer to Karuza High. He is also making sure that you two are in the same class so that it will be easier for you to get settled in that school."

"Nice, thanks!" Julian said.

"Get some sleep!"

Karma said, and then left to also get some shut-eye as he was taking the two to the school tomorrow. Other parents were also participating in the opening ceremony.

Kiernan pressed the shutdown button on the computer and put the controllers back in the drawer.

"Good night." Julian yawned loudly and left the room while dragging his feet behind him lazily.

Kiernan closed the door and sat down on his bed, staring out of the window towards the gray moon on the sky.

"Sigh…"

…

The light of the moon shone through an open-curtained window and landed in the face of a beautiful woman, whose red eyes shone bright in the darkness.

She was sitting at her desk, trying to write a letter, but her thoughts kept drifting away from her.

"Sigh…"

Bella put her pen down and looked over to the moon. It was so clear that she could almost see the craters on its surface.

She had been trying to write this letter for about four days already, ever since she met her long-lost son.

It was so difficult because there was so much she wanted to write, but the words never seemed to come out right.

She then took a deep breath, grabbed the pen again, and was about to write, but again, her thoughts got disturbed as some loud noises came from the hallway.

It was a lot of cursing and annoyed sounds of frustration.

Knock!

After a single knock, the door to her room opened, and her sister, Nevaeh, walked in, then closed the door immediately and walked over to Bella.

"What is happening over there?" Bella asked innocently.

"The children came back from the Game." Nevaeh said.

"Oh…" Bella bit her pen and asked. "Did they beat my son's score?"

Nevaeh looked at her and smiled. "Nope. Zeus improved his time to six minutes and four seconds."

Bella hid her face, but it was clear that she was smiling because her cheeks were flushed with pride.

"I fear that our father might have a heart attack if it continues like this." Nevaeh said with a giggle.

"Kiernan's popularity among the masses has grown already. Apparently someone accidentally shared news of Kiernan being another Abracadabra child."

"You wouldn't!" Bella looked at her sister with a gasped look. "Father will be so pissed!"

"He already is pissed." Nevaeh said with a giggle and then looked at the letter. "Only three paragraphs. Still having troubles with writing?"

"I don't know what to write…" Bella said.

"I can get my pigeon to deliver that letter, and then you can reply to his letter." Nevaeh said. "If that's easier."

"No…" Bella shook her head. "I want this letter to include all of my feelings. I don't want to rush it!"

"Very well~" Nevaeh kissed her sister on the head and said, "Take all the time you need."