Martial Arts Worlds

In the midst of the dark woods, a young man with a laid-back attitude picked up mushrooms and stuffed them inside a saggy bag.

"And that is a hundred mushrooms gathered!"

Ding! Ding!

In that moment, his black wristwatch reacted, and he acquired points.

[500 Points Acquired]

[59. Tavrin Jewel - Points: 500]

"Yes…"

With a smirk, Tavrin stood up, slung the bag of mushrooms over his shoulder, and started walking back.

In the mission pamphlet, there were two missions in one—one was to collect 100 mushrooms, which would give him 500 points.

The other one was to deliver those mushrooms over to the Selection Mansion's kitchen to get an extra 250 points.

Those were extremely valuable points, and even though that bag full of mushrooms was heavy, it was worth the effort to carry it all the way.

When he walked some distance away, he came to a stop as he noticed a rasta-haired young man with a dark and muscular build leaning against a tree.

With a grin, Karmea looked over, caught the glimpse of the wristwatch, and laughed.

"Good job in collecting those mushrooms. I had been waiting for you."

"You… have been following me?"

Tavrin asked in shock.

He'd been collecting these mushrooms for a couple of hours, and during that time, he didn't notice anyone following him.

And why would anyone wait for so long?

"Well, yes."

Karmea looked at his wristwatch, activated combat mode, and sent a battle invitation over to Tavrin.

"?!"

Tavrin saw the invitation appear on his wristwatch, and he quickly checked Karmea's points, and when he did, a chuckle left his mouth.

"You must be kidding."

[1101. Karmea Reck - Points: 0]

"Haha, I don't think I am joking. Accept the fight invitation, and let's get this over with."

Karmea said with a chuckle.

"Why the hell would I do that? You don't have any points, so fighting you will be pointless, hah!"

Tavrin said.

"You'll accept, or I'll force you to accept. You can choose a painless route or very much painful route. It's an important decision to make.

"Do not be stupid now. It's impossible for me to steal all your points till you have only zero left. This system doesn't work like that, as it's only possible to steal half of the points with each fight.

"Even if I leave you with just one point, it will still be enough for you to continue participating in the selection."

Karmea said.

"I spent two hours gathering all these mushrooms. I didn't work that hard for just one point, asshole, so piss off.

"There are cameras in the forest; I have seen a few, and they'll know if you force me to fight."

Tavrin said.

"I've been waiting in this spot for a reason. There are no cameras around this place. There are a few, about a few hundred meters in that direction… Two hundreds in that direction… And where you just came from."

Karmea said with a smile.

"T-Then I will go tell the headmaster of the Selection Mansion!"

Tavrin said.

"You think this is a school? Where you can just go to cry to a principal? Don't let his title of headmaster fool you.

"They won't care about your petty complaints. They care about strength. This selection is very important for humans."

Karmea said, uncrossed his arms, and slowly approached Tavrin with an ever-growing grin on his dark-skinned face.

"Accept… please."

Tavrin scoffed, pressed on the black wristwatch, and refused the invitation.

Karmea smirked—the dreadlocks fell over his eyes—and he then threw a punch at Tavrin.

It was a punch from the greatest boxer of the younger generation. He was the champion of the world in the youth division.

There hadn't been anyone who had been capable of challenging him, and all his 'rivals' had lost their motivation in martial arts and were left in his dust long ago.

When they realized that they couldn't keep up with Karmea's talents, they all gave up, and most of them had stopped martial arts altogether.

At that moment, smoke began to rise from Tavrin's body, and he ducked under the punch of the greatest boxer and punched Karmea in the jaw.

SMACK!

"?!"

Karmea's eyes shook, his brain rocking inside his head, and he staggered back, almost falling to the ground.

The punch to the jaw ruined his balance, and blood rose from his throat in a metallic taste.

"Huff…"

Tavrin breathed smoke out of his mouth—the dark smoke gathered around his body like a shroud of shadows.

"Flow State…?"

Karmea rubbed his chin, looked at him, and squinted his gaze.

"Who are you…?"

"You tournament fighters sure are arrogant. When you turn your back on the shadows, they tend to fight back."

Tavrin said with a scoff.

"Interesting…"

Karmea lunged, a piston of a left jab. Tavrin slipped under it, and his own counter dug into Karmea's ribs.

THWACK!

"Ah…"

With a short groan, Karmea came back with a hook that scratched Tavrin's temples, but with his Flow State, Tavrin was able to see the move coming and dodge just in time.

The coldness of the night air slowly melted with Karmea's bodily warmth—he'd been standing still for hours—and thus, his body was cold.

With the punches hurling in the direction of Tavrin, he started to shed off the coldness and started warming himself up.

After each punch, they became sharper and more accurate.

Tavrin noticed the change, but with his concentration at its fullest, as if someone turned a knob to the right, he was able to anticipate each hit before it landed.

The dirt ground beneath his feet felt solid and steady, supporting his movements, and their boot footprints got deeper and deeper as they circled around each other.

At that moment, Karmea launched into a furious combination—left, right, right, left—and finished with a hook, which just slightly grazed past Tavrin's cheek.

It didn't matter that he had Flow State—Karmea had his skill, which he had honed through long winters and during his early childhood of the back alley bouts that he fought to survive.

With the furious swings of the fists, Tavrin was forced on a back foot, and with cold sweat running down his back, he had to admit one thing.

'Indeed, he deserves his title of the Youth Boxing World Champion…'