Irio High

The wind rustled through the leaves of the tree. The branches swayed gently, like a long, graceful dance.

Under the shade of the trees, right by the lake, several people were sitting on the grass with fishing rods in hand, patiently waiting for a bite.

Karma swung his fishing rod far back and cast his line into the water with a flick of his wrist. He watched as the line floated gently on the water's surface.

Brr!

A man beside him pulled out his phone with a frown.

"Your wife's calling you, Luke?" Karma asked with a chuckle.

"Nah, haha." Luke let out a chuckle. He placed the fishing rod down on the ground and checked what the message was about.

Surprisingly, it wasn't a massage. It was a news article that was posted on Irio's blog.

It was titled 'Karuza High's Team Announced.'

"Oh, Karuza High announced their team for the upcoming representation match." Luke said and asked, "Karma, isn't your son studying there?"

"Yes, he is." Karma said with a smile. "Last night, he talked to me about him participating in a ranked match and winning."

"Whoah." Luke looked impressed and felt nostalgic. "Ah, I remember those days. The feeling of fighting in the ranked stadium never gets old."

"Karma, didn't you say that you were saddened by the cold relationship between you and your son?" A man on the left said: "So, I suppose everything is good now?"

"Yeah…" Karma sighed. "He carries too much burden on his shoulders. He feels like he needs to prove himself to me. Last night was the longest conversation we had in years."

Luke opened up the news article and started reading through the team announcement.

"Eh?" A surprised yelp left his mouth.

"Is everything alright, Luke?" Karma asked and suddenly felt a tug on his line. He grabbed his fishing rod and started reeling in the fish.

"Your son's name is Kiernan, was it not?" Luke turned to him and asked with round eyes.

"Yes, and?" Karma's muscles tightened as he felt the fish pulling back harder.

"Your son is in the team line up." Luke said.

Suddenly, Karma's grip on the fishing rod loosened, and it fell into the water with a splash.

"What do you mean?" Karma asked in confusion.

He thought that his friend must be mistaken.

"Here." Luke turned around the phone so everyone could see the news article.

Karma turned to look at the phone, and his other friends peeked over his broad shoulders to catch a glimpse of the phone.

[Team: Karuza High]

[Main: Ryan Lee, Nathaniel Waters, Kiernan Hunter]

[Reserve: Klaus Kohn, Timothy Howe]

"Whoah, your son is only a first-year student, and he is already a main fighter." His friends congratulated him with huge smiles. "Why didn't you tell us that your son was so talented?"

"Uh…" Karma looked speechless.

…

Karuza High, 1-A.

The sun's brilliant rays filtered through the window's shutters. The students continued eyeing the clock that slowly ticked down. It was only five minutes before today's classes ended.

Julia wrote down the last few notes of the lecture. Her handwriting was very neat and precise.

As soon as she wrote the last letter, she curiously threw a glance at the seat beside her. It was the window seat, and it was currently empty. It had been empty for the whole day.

'Father told me that he planned to take him to meet other members of Karuza High's team, but it wasn't supposed to take a whole day. Did something happen?'

At that moment, every student's phone buzzed with activity. It was quite loud and annoying, which immediately interrupted the class.

However, the teacher didn't seem to care, as she also picked up her phone to check the news. She knew that today or tomorrow the team's line up was supposed to be revealed.

Everyone in the school pretty much knew the team, as Karuza High always chose the top three ranked students to represent them.

However, a shocking surprise awaited everyone.

As soon as the students saw the team, they were in a state of shock. There was a name that shouldn't have been there.

Julia looked at her phone with its bunny case and gasped.

…

Irio High, the gymnasium.

"Everyone, Karuza High's team was announced!" Someone shouted while waving his phone around.

There were nearly thirty young men and women in the gymnasium—some were punching the bags, some were stretching, and a selected few were sparring in one of the quiet corners.

"Show me." Jonathan walked over to the person with a towel dangling over his shoulder.

"R-right away." The person showed him the phone with the news article.

Jonathan snatched the phone from the person's hands and looked at the article. "Ryan, Nathaniel, and…"

As soon as he saw the third name, his eyes widened in shock.

"Jonathan, is everything alright?" A young man dressed in Irio High's jersey, which was yellow in color, asked nonchalantly.

"Ah, yes, the team was announced." Jonathan handed the phone over to the young man so he could see the list of names himself.

"Hmm." The young man checked it out and raised an eyebrow. "Ryan, Nathaniel, and Kiernan, who is this?"

Kai was stretching nearby and heard the name. He almost accidentally did a split. He knew that name all too well. It still surprised him, as he didn't expect him to be that strong!

"He is the one that defeated Dominic." Jonathan said, not mentioning the fact that he also defeated him. It was far too humiliating.

"Hmm…" The young man caressed his chin thoughtfully.

His name was Leon Silvers, and he was the third-ranked student at Irio High. The eyes were silver like a mirror, and his grayish hair was perfectly styled, as if he had spent hours during the morning to get it to look as good as possible.

"Kiernan, he might be my opponent." Leon said out loud with a smile. "I thought I would fight Klaus. It would've been easy to beat that muscle-brained idiot. Do you know anything about this Kiernan?"

"No, I don't…" Jonathan said hesitantly.

At that moment, a nimble-legged figure jumped over the two young men and snatched the phone from their hands. 

"I'll take this; thank you very much!"

"Tch." Leon clicked his tongue. "Shura, you could've asked nicely."

Shura landed on her feet with a smile on her face. She had short brown hair that framed her face perfectly and warm hazel brown eyes. Her height was shorter than most, but she had a presence that demanded attention.

She was also the second-ranked student at Irio High, Shura Young.

"Mm, let's see!" Shura checked out the names and smiled brilliantly. "Ryan, Nathaniel, and, oh, a name I don't recognize. Karuza High has been hiding a talent, it seems."

"Yeah, the article said that Kiernan is only a first-year student." Leon scratched his cheek, which had signs of a beard forming. "He might be a formidable threat in the future."

"How come none of you are training?" A deep-sounding voice echoed from the doorway.

A young man—well, it was difficult to call him one as he definitely looked like a man—entered the gymnasium with his yellow jersey in hand. He was tall and muscular, with a confident stride that spoke of power and skill.

He stood at an impressive 2 meters and 20 centimeters. With his broad shoulders, axe-like shoulders, and piercing gaze, it was hard to imagine that he was only eighteen years old.

He had short black hair, trimmed short, and a chiseled jawline that gave him a rugged appearance. Eyes were a piercing icy blue that seemed to see right through you.

As soon as he arrived, the gymnasium quieted down like a library.

He was the first-ranked student at Irio High, Kang Moon.

"Karuza High's team was announced!" Shura offered the phone with a beaming smile.

"Hmm?" Kang took the phone and used his enormous hand to scroll down. "Ryan, Nathaniel, and… Kiernan?"

"I just checked." Jonathan scrolled down on his phone and said, "Karuza High's rankings had changed. Klaus had dropped to fourth, and Kiernan is at third."

"Interesting." Kang's eyes looked like they were smiling. "So, they have a trump card."