Chapter 13: The World of Martial Arts and the match (Part 2)

"Yes! I will release you of course. But you gotta pay up for a lot of things." Anna had a very cold grin on her face.

'Shit!' Ethan thought.

Although Anna and Zen looked amiable from normal interaction, this front was a farce through and through. Both were taught to be ruthless to the enemies. They never faltered in front of anyone and always took the most cruel way possible when acting against anyone.

A kick landed right in the face of Ethan.

"Please stop...." Ethan tried to beg but then a kick on his face stopped him from speaking.

|BAMMMM| 

|BAMMMM|

"I surr..." Ethan again opened his mouth. But..

|BAMMMM| 

The kicks didn't stop. After Ethan was almost unconscious, Anna stopped with the kicks and released him. Ethan's face was full of tears and phlegm with not a single shred of the handsomeness and pride that he showed before.

"Since you had so much pride on that face of yours, I will make sure that you won't be able to look yourself in the mirror for at least a few weeks. 

|BAMMM| This time Anna used her full power to make sure to break Ethan's nose with her kick.

Nobody spoke. Not even the professors. Why? Were they impressed by Anna's prowess? Certainly, but as high class martial instructors, it was not enough for them to have their mouth wide hanged open. It was Anna's temperament that astonished them. Not a single person expected a gentle looking girl with no mutation will be so decisive when dealing with her enemies. It was not like they haven't seen a girl like her, but everyone always hesitated when ruthlessly delivering blows like that without an ounce of hesitation. From Anna's background they knew that Anna never fought with violence. It was always Zen who took care of the fights. So this was surprising for them. 

'Whoever taught these kids, did an extremely commendable job!' Both Lucia and David thought at the same moment.

"Match Set!" David shouted after a second of astonishment.

Anna jumped and came towards the stands where Zen and co were standing. 

"Good work sis!" "You nailed it!" Tanya and James were ecstatic after the match. Zen only gave a smile to Anna.

"Next match! Mr. Ashford and Mr. Pearson please come on the stage."

"I QUIT!" The brat from the Pearson family immediately shouted. He was already sweating like a pig. He knew that although he was more powerful than Ethan, it was only slightly so. He thought that the Zen's last fight was a fluke and he wouldn't be able to stand up to him if he fought seriously. 

"... Are you sure Mr. Pearson?" David thought he heard something wrong as it was unheard of a Noble cowering in fear in front of a commoner. 

"Yes. I don't want to fight him.. I will transfer the points I have." He immediately picked up his phone and transferred the amount in an instant and ran to a corner while hiding his face.

Zen watched everything with amusement. He was looking forward to the fight as he wanted to convey a clear message that no one should mess with him. Since he already achieved his aim without lifting a finger, he was satisfied.

"With that out of the picture, let's start with the lecture. Today we will not practice anything but rather look into the martial arts and how they are used in the universe. Is there anyone who doesn't know about Martial arts and its history?"

Seeing no one raising hands, David continued "Martial arts are not only important for advancing in society, it is also very important for survival. Even if you are a prodigy in some subject, you will have to depend on the protection from other people. Even if you are a prodigy in some discipline, until and unless you prove your worth and show the world your future value, no one will be willing to charge a powerful martial artist, even if they kill you. So what's the best you can do? Learn martial arts and protect yourselves."

Yes this was the truth. A talented engineer will be valued highly, but if he/she is killed by an inner ring martial artist, the government will not even bother to investigate. Why? Well there are multiple engineering prodigies as the discipline doesn't require exorbitant resources but there are limited number of martial artists and most of them belong to the noble families. Does this mean engineers are worthless? No, as David said, you will have to show your future potential. If you have potential to contribute to the advancement of Earth, the federation itself will take responsibility for taking charge of the criminal. This was one way of showing the people that if they do good, federation will stand with them.

"Let's start with martial arts categories. The martial arts have ranks like everything. I don't know who categorized them, but they were heavily influenced by the novels as the ranks are 'Human, Earth and Sky'. Although we have an inkling that there are ranks above these but the highest that any Earthling practiced is Sky so we will leave it at that."

'So, the range of martial arts is so wide, huh.' Zen thought.

"Finally, there are tons of techniques in every category. From attacks, defense, movements and even meditating. Every student here is allowed to take 3 techniques from the database. As elite students, you are allowed to look at some sky ranked techniques. Once chosen, they cannot replace it unless they have enough points and special permission. So choose wisely."

Zen and Anna already know what they were good at. Anna was very good with daggers while Zen was good in hand to hand combat and spear. Many Nobles already had martial techniques since they were trained form their childhood, but that doesn't mean they will give up their chance to take a look into the techniques of federation.

"Alright, now I will give you time for selecting your techniques. You have 3 hours. Read the summary, if you are interested, take a look into the results and then decide. If you want some advice, remember to take at least a movement skill as it will be very beneficial for your future. Finally, don't bite more than you chew. Choosing a sky ranked technique is good, but practicing it requires years. It won't help if you are defeated and thrown out of the academy before that!"

Saying this, he directed the students to the martial database hall situated in the gym.