Montrael Middle School, early on a Sunday morning.

The stage for the competition had been set. It was in the gymnasium. The ring was surrounded by bleachers, enough seats for several hundred people.

Cars rolled to the parking lot. Participating students eagerly stepped out of the car with their parents and headed to the gymnasium.

In that moment, an ordinary-looking gray car rolled through the school gate. The driver parked the car next to two wealthy-looking cars.

"We have arrived."

Ricks asked, looking at the backseat of his car, and saw his son, Jock, sitting in the backseat with his backpack on his lap.

"Y-Yeah…"

Jock replied nervously.

"…"

Ricks stayed silent, looked at his wife, and saw her worryingly looking at their son. It was obvious to them that he never had a desire to learn martial arts.

Neither of them, honestly. They weren't a martial arts family.

However, lately, they had seen their son, Jock, doing push-ups and sit-ups in the safety of his own room.

And he had been coming home late for the past week. They believed he had been training for this competition.

They didn't know how to feel about that.

Their son started training too late. There was no way he could do anything with just one week of training.

At that moment, they stepped out of the car and started walking towards the gymnasium, but in that moment, they heard a voice.

"Jock, how are you feeling?"

Cleo walked over to them, with her father and mother walking slightly behind, looking serious when staring at Jock.

"This is our daughter's partner for the competition?"

Her mother asked with a scoff.

"I heard he is the weakest student of the entire class. Our daughter really drew the short stick."

The father said.

"If he causes our daughter to lose… Tch, tch, tch!"

The mother clicked her tongue three times—twice out of anger and once out of frustration—they then saw Jock's parents nod at them, and they responded with short nods while having zero intention to want to talk with them.

They weren't of the same status. Not at all.

Jock's parents were ordinary workers. While Cleo's father was Martial Grandmaster, and her mother was Martial Master.

"H-Hey, Cleo."

Jock said with a slightly awkward smile.

"How are you doing?"

Cleo asked, and at that moment, she noticed a slight change in Jock. It was not a big change, but she could sense it.

With a smile, she said.

"You have awakened?"

When Jock's parents heard that, they were very surprised.

Did he really awaken in only one week of martial arts training? That would be a very impressive feat.

Cleo's parents looked sullen. It meant that Jock was only Martial Recruit. He was going to be eaten alive.

"Yeah… Yesterday."

Jock said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head, not acting like it was any kind of amazing feat.

After all, all of his peers awakened before him, and he was late to the party. He also awakened with external help.

Thus, he really wasn't proud of his awakening.

"That is good. Shall we enter? We need to talk about the game plan."

Cleo said. Jock nodded. They headed to the gymnasium, while their parents followed and took seats in the bleachers.

The gymnasium slowly got filled. It was brimming with students and their parents. There were also teachers.

The teachers were going to act as referees of the competition.

Meanwhile, wearing a hoodie with its hood up, Kiernan sat at the back of the bleachers, out of the view of everyone.

He thought about staying in the dojo today, but he really wanted to see how his student would do, and thus he decided to come to watch.

'He is nervous. I hope he doesn't completely freeze over and forget everything I taught him.'

Kiernan thought, but he was more of praying for a miracle.

This was a really important moment for his dojo, Martial Redemption, and he knew that his student's success would reflect on the reputation of the entire dojo.

…

"The matches are up!"

Cleo said to Jock, and they watched as one of the teachers rolled a whiteboard out of the back with match-ups written on it.

"Huff…"

Jock breathed heavily, looking at the whiteboard, and felt his heart start beating harder against his chest.

***

[BLOCK A]

[Chizuru + Adrik vs. Caitlin + Peter]

[Daiki + Qiuye vs. Lumian + Della]

[Ethan + Kitty vs. Ash + Callidora]

[Cleo + Jock vs. Oritori + Noa]

***

[BLOCK B]

[Daggan + Snow vs. Aya + Sai]

[Toshiro + Meiyun vs. Eona + Merida]

[Roman + Annie vs. Sophie + Rickord]

[Minnie + Markus vs. Ricky + Jenny]

***

"The winner of the first matches will fight at the semi-final of each block, and the winner of those will fight at the final of those blocks.

"The winner of each block will meet in the grand finals."

Cleo said and looked at the people in their block. She was really worried when she saw Lumian's name.

"We're in the same block as Lumian and Della. They are easily the strongest group."

She said, turned to Jock, and saw him stare over to Lumian and Della, who were chatting with smiles and carefree attitudes.

They didn't look nervous. They had zero reason to be.

While Lumian was the strongest student of their class, Della was among the strongest as well. It was either her or Cleo that was the strongest girl.

They have had a bitter rivalry for a couple of years already.

"You alright?"

Cleo asked.

"Yeah… We are fighting in the fourth match. I just need a moment to… catch my breath… and my thoughts."

Jock said with a forced smile, then turned silent and focused on getting rid of his beating heartbeat.

She really wasn't blooming with confidence when looking at Jock. She had a lot of responsibility, as she was the only one that could carry their team to at least one victory.

In that moment, the physical education teacher walked to the ring with his hands behind his back.

"Ahem…"

He cleared his throat and then started speaking.

"Welcome, everyone."

His voice boomed as if he were speaking through a speakerphone, but it was just his masculine and naturally loud voice.

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