Martial Arts System

''Hehe.'' Disciple Hao bowed while his right hand was still grabbing his painful chest. A trail of pain-filled sweat trickled down his face, staining the ground below him in drops of sweat stains.

''A-As expected from Chosen One…'' He painfully stood straight, ''I-I lost.''

''Winner is Kurogami Ichiro.'' The teacher announced and was about to leave the sparring room.

Ichiro glanced at his silver ring and suddenly asked, ''Why did you try to steal my ring?''

''Eh?'' Disciple Hao looked stunned but soon innocently smiled, ''I-I don't know what you are talking about.''

''When you attacked me, you aimed at my silver ring, and if I didn't push you away, you would have stolen it.'' Ichiro rubbed his silver ring and told him what he saw.

''I saw your greedy gaze while looking at the ring. I am asking you one more time, why did you try to steal it?''

Hao's face looked confused as he shook his head, ''I-I didn't try to steal the ring!''

''Mister Kurogami, you must be mistaken.'' Suddenly the teacher intervened, ''Our disciples would never steal.''

''Hmm…'' Ichiro narrowed his eyes and saw Hao having a cold sweat pouring down from his pores.

''I guess I was mistaken.'' He innocently smiled and did a slight bow, ''Apologies.''

''I-It's fine.'' Disciple Hao replied back with a chuckle and pointed at the door, ''This was fun, but I have to go train. Sparring with you opened my eyes.''

He bowed one more time and left the room with quick steps.

The teacher rubbed his chin and left shortly afterwards, leaving Ichiro alone in the room.

He took one last glance at his silver ring and knew what he saw.

'Was I being paranoid?' Ichiro thought to himself but then shook his head. His countless years of experience told him that he wasn't mistaken, and he had to find out if the things he saw were real.

He left the sparring room and walked past the dozens of disciples, who were training diligently.

''Leaving already?'' The teacher, who was the referee of the sparring match, asked as he watched Ichiro taking his shoes and putting them back on.

''Yes, I am kind of feeling sleepy.'' Ichiro bowed one last time and left the dojo.

''Hmm…'' The teacher kept rubbing his chin but shrugged off the weird feeling he had.

Disciple Hao, who was currently sitting on the corner of the dojo, saw Ichiro leaving.

He sighed a breath of relief and grimaced suddenly after the pain returned.

On his chest, a fist-sized bruise started appearing.

'How can his punch be so powerful… I am Middle Martial Captain, and I have fought against Martial Commanders before, but that punch was so hard!' He bit his lip and rubbed the bruise while a trail of blood started trickling down.

Several hours later.

The sky above the Island of Grandmasters started getting darker.

The sun left the sky, and the moon replaced it.

Hundreds of stars kept circling around the moon, making the scene mesmerizing.

Disciples, members of the younger generation, and spectators all looked towards the sky.

Sometime later.

Disciple Hao left the dojo with sluggish steps. His face was pale at the blood loss and the pain that kept haunting him.

He turned to the right and started walking in the streets that were much emptier than when it was still bright.

Once he left, a black-haired figure appeared on top of one of the buildings.

Ichiro narrowed his eyes and followed behind Disciple Hao.

Disciple Hao did a few more turns until reaching a two-floor building made from brick and wood.

*Knock* *Knock*

He knocked on the door couple more times, and soon, the door opened, and he was dragged inside.

Ichiro jumped off the building and silently landed on the pavement.

He quickly looked around him, and once he was sure that there was no soul in sight, he jumped high enough to reach the second floor's window.

*Creak*

The window of the second floor was opened swiftly, and Ichiro used that as an entrance.

He slowly moved inside and softly landed on the ground, being completely silent the whole time.

The room he was in had one simple-looking bed, bookshelf, and wardrobe.

The walls were made of wood, which looked very well maintained.

Ichiro slowly moved closer to the door and opened it slowly.

He entered the hallway, which had three other doors and a stairway that led to the downstairs.

With light and silent steps, he reached the stairway and slowly started walking down the stairs.

Soon, from the narrow gaps of the handrail, he managed to see to the living room, where three people were gathered.

He recognized Hao, but two other individuals were unknown to him.

They had blue robes with muscular bodies and menacing-looking faces.

''What do you mean you didn't get the silver ring?!'' The first blue-robed figure shouted angrily. In the chest, a nametag was located, which revealed his identity for Ichiro.

[Yai]

The second blue-robed figure looked very annoyed at Disciple Hao's uselessness.

Another nametag was seen on his chest.

[Kai]

''Yai… Kai…'' Hao gulped, ''I-It wasn't possible to get it— I almost got caught!''

''Excuses!'' Yai stood up and slammed his foot deep inside Hao's torso.

''UGH!'' Hao fell down on his knees with saliva pouring through his teeth.

''You have always disappointed us, and this was the last time!'' Kai stood up from the sofa and grabbed Hao from his hair before slamming his head into the wooden floor.

*CRACK!*

Hao's head crashed through the wooden floor, making a head-sized hole in it.

''Ptu!'' He spat out half of his teeth. From his forehead, a cut was found, which was pouring with dark red blood.

*BAM!*

Yai's kick landed on Hao's torso, sending him crashing onto the wooden wall on the other side of the room.

*Creak..*

Suddenly, a sound of creaking came from the stairs.

Hao shakily turned his bloodied face towards the stairs but saw no one there.

''Go check it out,'' Yai said to his brother.

Kai nodded and rushed towards the upstairs.