Martial Soul

"Good job, Jonathan!"

"You're the best!"

"Thanks for the support." Jonathan smiled at his cheering fans, then picked up his bag and slowly wiped the sweat off his brows.

At that moment, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

His friends, who had finished their own matches, came to give their congratulations.

"I am surprised that your opponent didn't die, honestly!" One of his friends laughed. "He took quite a bad fall."

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders. He didn't have much of recollection of him. It was easy victory for him anyway.

"A lucky bastard, that's all." His friends smirked. "Anyway, our school is doing far better than theirs. Five of us reached the quarterfinals, while only three of theirs."

"Hmm." Jonathan moved the bag over his shoulder and said, "The quarterfinals are tomorrow, so I am off to get some rest."

"Rest? Let's visit the new restaurant that just opened down the street instead!"

Jonathan checked out the time on his phone and sighed before nodding in agreement.

With that, they left the stadium with smiles on their faces and headed towards the new restaurant.

As they walked down a sidewalk with the sun shining above them, a small pebble, barely the size of a coin, flew from the alley and hit Jonathan on the back of his head.

"The fuck?" Jonathan touched the back of his head with a grim look and turned to the alleyway.

There, he saw a white-uniformed young man leaning against a brick wall, tossing a pebble in his hand. The alleyway was dirty, with a putrid smell of trash lingering in the air.

"Did you toss this?" Jonathan asked while picking up the pebble from the ground, anger flashing past his eyes.

"Hey, Jonathan, that outfit…" His friend paused. "It is the outfit of Karuza High."

"Hmph." Jonathan tossed the pebble away and entered the alleyway with his friends.

"I did, so what?" At that moment, Kiernan turned his head towards the young men, revealing his bandaged face.

"Oh, it is you." Jonathan frowned and scoffed. "Did you not get enough beating in the arena? Do you want to die? Is that it?"

"I am… taking revenge." Kiernan smiled and dropped the pebble to the ground. "Revenge for Kiernan and for me."

"What is this fool saying?" A small-eyed young man said with a laugh and looked at Jonathan while ridiculing Kiernan. "How hard did he fall on his head? He might've gone crazy!"

"You're weak." Jonathan said while staring at the bandaged young man with a steely gaze. "I can tell that you think that hard work can overcome talent. Well, you're wrong."

"Is that so?" Kiernan smirked and tightened his fist, then pointed it at Jonathan. "Then let's put it to the test."

"What a waste of time." Jonathan turned around as he was about to walk out of the alleyway and lazily waved his hand. "You guys, cripple him or something. I am too tired to entertain a fool like him."

"It's my pleasure!" The small-eyed young man tightened his belt around his yellow uniform, which had patterns of suns. It was the uniform of Irio High.

"My name's Kai." The small-eyed young man said with a grin while slowly approaching Kiernan. "I am one of the quarterfinalists in the local martial arts competition. I hope you don't feel discouraged!"

"…" Kiernan stayed silent and slowly moved to his fighting stance—his front foot was standing on toes and his back foot was firmly planted on the ground. His hands were positioned in front of him.

Kai put his arms in front of him, like he was protecting his head. He slowly moved closer to Kiernan, still wearing that same smile on his face.

He didn't think this was going to be even a fight. It was going to be a slaughter.

Jonathan stepped out of the alleyway, turned around to look at them, and said, "Kai, finish it quick; I am hungry."

"No problem!" Kai grinned and then took a long step forward. 

At the same moment, his waist twisted as he threw a powerful straight punch.

"Iron Style…" Kiernan whispered, but then his arm started aching heavily. His eyes immediately shook.

Iron Style was a very destructive and lethal style. It also puts a great burden on the body. It was a burden that his current body couldn't possibly handle.

'I didn't know how my Iron Style would do with this current body.' Kiernan sweated heavily. 'My Iron Style became so powerful that I could use fewer skills the older I got, as my old body couldn't handle the burden.

'I thought this youthful body would be able to handle a few weak skills, but I had underestimated the strength of my own style. For now, I can't use Iron Style!'

At that moment, Kai's punch landed on Kiernan's block and pushed him a few steps backward. Even though he managed to block the punch, it still hurt badly.

'What a powerful punch! How can someone so young have this much physical prowess?' Kiernan frowned. 'I might've underestimated this world a little bit.'

"Hahaha!" Kai laughed heartily. "You haven't even awakened Martial Soul yet, and you think you can defeat us?"

'Martial Soul?' Kiernan quickly dug up his memories and quickly realized what he was talking about.

Martial Soul was the heart of the martial artists. It was their source of power and strength.

It had multiple layers, and the more layers one awakened, the stronger they would become. The people at the apex of power had abilities that seemed almost god-like.

At the current moment, Kiernan was at the "Unranked" level. It was for those who hadn't awakened Martial Soul yet.

Kai in front of him had reached the middle stage of the Martial Recruit rank. It was a level above Unranked.

Since he had awakened his Martial Soul, he had become much more powerful and faster. Those who were Unranked were at a significant disadvantage compared to those who had awakened their Martial Souls.

"Interesting, this world just became much bigger." Kiernan said with a chuckle.

His arms were already bruising after getting punched by Kai. However, it didn't seem like it even affected him. Kiernan looked steady as he faced Kai, as if the pain didn't affect him.

"You can handle pain well, I suppose." Kai grinned as he hopped around like a boxer, then he moved to a jabbing stance, as if he were about to rain Kiernan with punches.

"Martial Soul, huh?" Kiernan touched his chest and closed his eyes.

Something strange was happening inside him.

At the depths of his soul, he could feel a power awakening.

His soul peeled like an apple, revealing a bright, glowing orb inside. It was the Martial Soul!

Kiernan opened his eyes, and his gray eyes were glowing with an otherworldly light.

"Ahh~ I feel strength flowing inside me."

Kai's eyes widened in shock. "T-that's impossible; he just awakened Martial Soul?!"

"That wasn't too hard." Kiernan grinned and reeled in his arm as if he were about to throw a punch. "Let's see the limit of my current body!"

"Iron Style, Iron Smash!"

The punch landed on Kai's face. Kai was sent flying back, blood spurting from his nose and mouth.

Kai flew past shocked Jonathan and eventually fell to the ground—his eyes had rolled back into his skull. He was bleeding from his nose and mouth, and his face had a massive fist imprint on it.

"Ow…" Kiernan looked at his fist and saw that four of his fingers were broken. "My Iron Style sure is powerful. Even this Martial Soul couldn't handle the burden."

Ding, ding!

At that moment, a strange sound echoed in Kiernan's ears. It sounded like a church's bell ringing. However, there didn't seem to be any churches near enough to produce such a sound.

[Requirements for the System have been achieved!]

"What is this?" Kiernan's eyes widened in shock as strange text appeared in front of him.