Martial Arts Worlds

It was dark at one moment, and the next moment Liora was sitting on the stone throne around the stone table.

She looked surprised, and her cat ears twitched in confusion, but then she saw several pairs of eyes looking at her curiously, which made her lower her head.

She wasn't used to having so many people stare at her all at once.

"Welcome."

"Nice to have you with us."

Yet, everyone greeted her warmly, which helped her to ease up a little bit.

It had been about a week since she met the strange man in the dream, and he gave her instructions to do all kinds of strange ceremonies.

She thought that it must've really just been a dream and that she imagined it all, but here she was now, and it was very much real.

"Kiernan, do you have the text with you?"

Pankratios asked, and Liora followed a gray-haired young man with her animal gaze and watched as he gave him the notebook.

'He is handsome… As handsome as the Beast Prince.'

Liora thought briefly and averted her shy gaze over to Pankratios, who was the strange man from her dreams, and now he was here in person.

They stayed silent as Pankratios went through the notebook's contents, and it stayed such until he reached the end.

"This is everything from Yellow Dungeons?"

He asked.

"Yes, there were about fifteen Yellow Dungeons, and they were pretty long and winding, so it took many hours to go through a single dungeon.

"Red and Black Dungeons are also long, but there aren't many of them, so we should be able to clear them as well in the next couple of weeks."

Xerxus said.

"Good."

Pankratios put the notebook away, interlaced his fingers, and turned his gaze to the cat-eared girl.

"Welcome, Liora. I've talked to you in your dreams, but this is the first time that we've officially met.

"This is Martial Order. I am not sure if you've heard about us yet, but we're currently very concerned about Animal Kingdom's situation."

Pankratios said.

"Ah, yes… I do remember."

Liora nodded shakily.

She had also already done the God Contract, so she couldn't tell anything about what happened here to Beast King even if she wanted to because she would be struck by tribulation lightning otherwise.

"What's your role in Beast King's circle, actually?"

Imperius asked curiously.

"I-I am not really in his circle. I am just a lowly servant of his court, but I am no more than a slave, really…

"Beast King Vladimir doesn't think very highly of us pacifists. I am part of Cat Family, and while there are some fighters among us, most of us are settled with peaceful lives."

Liora said while the tail of her body swished side to side.

Imperius nodded briefly.

"What have you discovered?"

Pankratios asked.

"Not much… You told me to listen and watch, which I've been doing, but I only see Beast King Vladimir during his daily hunt feasts.

"He doesn't think highly of humans. He thinks that Human Government is weak for wanting peace, and he has destroyed every letter he has received."

Liora said.

"Does he even read them?"

Xerxus asked.

"No…"

Liora shook her head.

"That can be bothersome. The Human Government is trying to do a deal with the Beast King Vladimir, which I honestly think he will accept despite his stubborn nature.

"If he doesn't even see those letters, then everything Human Government writes will land on deaf ears."

Xerxus said with a troubled look.

"Liora, you must make him see at least one of those letters."

Pankratios said.

"H-how could I possibly do that?"

Liora asked in shock.

Go and tell Beast King that those letters would be important? He would kill her in an instant for even opening her mouth.

"I don't really know, but you have to try."

Pankratios said.

"Mmh…"

Liora nodded.

For the rest of the meeting, Pankratios and everyone else discussed in High German in an attempt to learn the dialect.

Liora, of course, didn't understand a single word they were saying, and neither did over half of the Martial Order.

Kiernan just listened with an amused smile as he listened to them trying to speak in High German, and most of the time, they were speaking nonsense.

It earned a few giggles from him, though.

At the end, Pankratios handed Liora her own version of the High German dictionary, and then the meeting was concluded.

…

Animal Kingdom, Combat Land, the King's Castle.

In the busy kitchen, the servants were putting the food together, and the head servant put all that food on a tray.

"Beast King will be dining from his quarters today. I need a volunteer to take it to him!"

She shouted, and the servants turned very tight-lipped, as none of them wanted to volunteer to take anything to that crazy person.

"I-I'll do it."

At that moment, Liora raised her hand while she was busy stirring the pot of soup on the stove, and the servants turned to her in surprise.

Most of them hadn't even heard of her voice before, and now she was volunteering herself to take dinner to Beast King Vladimir.

It was very bold of her!

"Very well."

The head servant gave her the tray, and with the tray in hand, Liora left the kitchen and made her way to the king's quarters.

She knocked on the door, didn't receive a word, and with dry lips, opened the door only to see no one inside.

'Lucky…'

With a relieved sigh, she took the food to the king's desk and then looked around for any of the letters that the Human Government sent to the Beast King.

She believed that he must've torn them apart, so she looked around the garbage and found them all shredded in pieces.

However, she found one letter that was only torn from the middle, so she took it out, and placed it in front of the door.

She taped the letter together so it would be easy to read the letter as if it were still intact.

'Beast King believes that he has already torn all letters, so he'll think it's a letter of different matter and might accidentally read it.

'You're very smart, Liora, very smart!'

With a smug smile, she approached the door, but at that moment, the door opened, and a massive man stood before her.

He was so tall that his head touched the top of the arched doorway, and he lowered his gaze to look at her coldly.

"Why are you in my chambers, servant?"

"I-I-I-I brought your food!"

Liora stuttered nervously while trying to stop her hands from shaking.

Beast King Vladimir scoffed, yanked her out of his room, and sent her flying into the wall. She coughed blood, and several ribs cracked on impact.

"Next time you enter my chambers without permission, you'll die."

With the cold look of a predator, Beast King Vladimir slammed the door shut, leaving Liora whimpering in pain in the hallway.