Martial Arts Worlds

Pema pressed her finger against the red dot in-between her brows and eased into her gentle stance of Ghoul Style.

While everyone at Ghoul Dojo practiced the same style, there were many different variations and interpretations within the technique.

While Leon used "Rough Style," Pema was using its counterpart, the Gentle Style.

Facing her, Fiona shifted into her speedy stance as she used Yokai Dojo's speed style. She wasn't primarily using one style but multiple ones.

Which was why she was a jack-of-all-trades but master of none.

"With the spirit of the martial gods watching, the first match shall begin, and don't you dare leave the battle sand without giving it your all!"

The temple priest shouted, waved his arm down, and the gong sounded.

"Ghoul Style, Digitus Ictus!"

With her finger acting as the head of the spear, she thrust it forward, stabbing through the air, and headed straight towards Fiona's left eye.

She planned to blind her instantly, which would give her an advantage for the rest of the match.

"Yokai Style, Keru!"

Fiona whipped her leg and kicked Pema's finger in a way that made it snap back and miss her eye by mere centimeters.

Crack~

Purple and bruised, Pema's finger flapped uselessly at the side of her hand as if it didn't have any bones left in it.

"Good!"

Yokai Dojo's students clapped their hands.

"That was a well-executed kick from Fiona!"

"She immediately handicapped Pema by breaking one of her fingers. The advantage is on Fiona's side of the court!"

Master Sifu looked expressionless as he watched the intense match continue.

"…"

Pema jabbed another finger of hers towards Fiona, but she tilted her head to dodge it and countered with a powerful smash that landed square in the middle of Pema's chest.

"Yokai Style, Shakunetsu no Oni!"

SMACK!

Pema's feet slid down the sand, and she noticed that her skinsuit had some burn marks as the result of that punch.

However, she didn't seem to care and launched herself forward.

It was hard to move through the sand as feet sunk in with each step, and that was another difficult part of the martial arts festival.

Despite her broken finger, she formed a fist with her right and punched, but missed Fiona's cheek by an inch.

It was so close, yet so far.

Fiona jabbed her in the waist and got a good understanding of how it felt to land her fists on Pema's body.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

"It looks like the skill gap is there, but no flinch in sight. If I didn't know any better, I would think that they were pretending to fight."

Kiernan said.

"What do you mean, Kiernan?"

Aoi asked.

"It doesn't look like Pema is feeling any of those punches. I mean, she's not even flinching, and it doesn't matter if she has good pain tolerance. She should at least be reacting a little bit."

Kiernan said.

When they heard his analysis, they also noticed that Pema had a deadpan expression on her face. She was definitely not fazed by the punches.

"It is that skinsuit of hers."

Master Arakawa said.

"That skinsuit… Is that even allowed?"

Kiernan asked with a frown.

"Everyone else wouldn't be allowed. That skinsuit is part of Pema's body, so she is allowed to wear it. We had a lengthy conversation with other masters about it.

"The rules state that fighters can use any equipment or enhancements that are permanently fused with their body."

Master Arakawa said.

"That skinsuit is part of her body? What do you mean?"

Kiernan asked.

"She is from a race of hardcore martial artists. Their sole purpose was to dedicate their lives to becoming strong, and to do that, they went through a ritual that fused their bodies with the material of the skinsuit.

"That skinsuit removes their ability to feel pain, it absorbs impact, and allows them to push their bodies to the absolute limit without fear of injury."

He said.

"So she can't remove that skinsuit? How horrible…"

Aoi said.

She couldn't even imagine having to wear that skinsuit for the rest of her life. She wouldn't be able to remove it when she took a shower and would never be able to feel the water running down her skin again.

It seemed worse than any prison of her imagination.

"It has other functions, such as the skinsuit always keeping the body underneath clean. It also provides protection against harmful substances and can be programmed to adjust temperature and pressure levels based on the wearer's preferences."

Master Arakawa said.

"Haa!"

Fiona rained punches at Pema's abdomen, hearing the constant sound of her fists hitting the skinsuit, and when she looked up to see Pema's reaction, she came across a scary reality.

Pema looked down at her with zero expression on her face.

"What are you made of, bitch?"

Pema slapped Fiona across her face and made her spin around from the impact before falling down to the sand.

"McBride, why did your master send you against me? Are you just a throwaway fighter since they didn't have enough decent fighters to fill the seven chosen ones?

"He should know about the applications of my skinsuit, as I heard that he had complained to the temple priest. Did he decide to give up the first match?"

Pema asked.

"Oww~"

Fiona touched her swollen cheek, looked at her angrily, and stood up, standing at her full height with their gazes locked in a fierce stare.

In the area of Ghoul Dojo, Koa Mokana smirked to herself and said.

"Pema changes her personality when she is wearing nothing but the skinsuit. She is usually a timid girl, but now she isn't taking shit from anyone."

"Hah…"

Fiona laughed, wiped the blood off her lips, and then reached her hand to her shorts, revealing the hidden knife tucked inside.

She pulled it out and pointed at Pema, whose eyes widened in surprise.

"A weapon?!"

"Weapons shouldn't be allowed! What is Fiona doing? She is getting herself disqualified!"

However, when everyone turned to the temple priest, he wasn't doing anything, as if there was no rule break going on.

"W-what is going on?"

Everyone wondered.

"The rules say that fighters are allowed to use anything that is part of their body. Well, it just so happens that this bone knife was once part of her body."

Master Arakawa said coldly.