Martial Arts Worlds

It took three minutes for the man to put the groceries in the checkout basket, and the line behind him had grown considerably longer.

"And that shall be 55 gold coins, please!"

The gentle-looking cashier said hurriedly, as she didn't want to make others wait any longer, as she noticed that they had grown very impatient.

At this time of hour, they couldn't open more checkout counters as her co-workers were on lunch break.

Slowly, the tanned man reached to his breast pocket, had his hand inside his pocket for ten seconds, and then pulled out a card.

He put it on the counter, and the girl looked at it.

"Raphael… Is that how you say it? Rap… Hael?"

"Räphael…"

He said slowly, stretching his words long.

"I thought I had seen him before. That's Räphael Vitesse-Royale of Godspeed Monarchy!"

An excited middle-aged woman said behind Kiernan, and the old man—the others also looked surprised.

'A member of Godspeed Monarchy? If I recall, I watched one of their World Fighting League matches, but aren't their members supposed to be the fastest fighters in the world?

'This guy is as slow as a snail, and his brain seems to work more slowly than an ordinary person's!'

Kiernan thought to himself.

The cashier took the card, swiped it, and handed it back to Räphael—he took a plastic bag, stuffed the items slowly into the bag, and then nodded to the cashier.

When he turned away, he looked to the sliding doors, and at that moment, another customer walked in, so the sliding doors stayed open.

He immediately dashed through the open sliding doors and turned left in the street—but in just a couple of seconds, he was long gone.

"What the hell, so he can move fast after all!"

The old man cried out.

"What the hell is wrong with that guy? Was he slow on purpose? I didn't expect that kind of petty behavior from a professional fighter!"

An outcry of complaints filled the grocery store, and Kiernan just watched with a twitching eyebrow.

He put his groceries in the checkout basket, paid for them, and walked out without saying a word.

That all took him only ten seconds compared to Räphael's seven minutes and thirty-two seconds.

…

"…"

Räphael looked silently at the elevator doors in front of him—the elevator was slowly carrying him high up in the building—and then it stopped.

The elevator doors opened, and a long hallway stretched before him—a door stood at the end, and a doorman was waiting to greet him.

"Mr. Vitesse-Royale. We've been waiting for you. With you here, everyone has arrived."

The doorman said and opened the door—Räphael stepped through, and with his arrival, everyone turned to look over to him.

They all had gotten seated around a long meeting table, long stretching windows lining the walls, and the room filled with the soft glow of afternoon sunlight.

"Thank you for finally arriving, Mr. Vitesse-Royale; we've been awaiting your arrival."

Victor Daumont Le Juste said—he was the Grand President of the Martial Arts Association—the ruler of the greatest association in the world.

"I apologize for his lateness!"

The general manager of Godspeed Monarchy stood up, bowed in apology, and felt his back turn sticky with sweat.

He blamed himself for Räphael being late—he was supposed to bring him with him, but when he turned his back to him, he disappeared somewhere.

When he glanced over to Räphael and saw the plastic bag in hand, his veins popped in his forehead, and he was on the verge of blowing up.

'You went to the grocery store? You fool!'

"It's fine, Lex. It's amusing to me, that's all. Räphael, the ace of the Godspeed Monarchy and hailed as the fastest fighter in the world, is always late to everything.

"I like that my World Fighting League has unique personalities. That does bring views and entertainment to the league, after all.

"He was also only ten minutes late."

Victor said.

"I… am… sorry… I… have… to… reserve… my… speed… for… fights."

Räphael said slowly and sat beside Lex, then put the plastic bag on the table and started munching on some snack bars.

Lex's face turned red, and he took the plastic bag off the table, then stuffed it into Räphael's lap.

"Do not embarrass our organization any longer, Räp, please!"

Lex whisper-shouted to him, but Räphael didn't seem to care and just ate the snack bars loudly without any care in the world.

Munch! Munch! Munch!

"Thank you all, the General Managers, and representatives of World Fighting League's thirteen teams, for being here today.

"The future is here, once again, and you all have the first look at the future of the martial arts participating in this year's Junior Martial Arts Championship.

"There are 321 countries participating this year, and each brought out their best talent. Tomorrow, you all will have the opportunity to talk with each representative.

"If you take interest in one of the representatives, do it the right way, and send them a letter to talk at a later date in your respective headquarters.

"Do not disturb them while they're participating in the championship. That's all."

Victor said, and sat down.

At that moment, a gold-haired man stood up—he had pale skin and eyes that were silver—he emitted a strong aura that demanded attention.

"General Manager of Royal Murder—you told me that you had something to talk about, so we're listening."

Victor said and crossed his legs.

"Yes, thank you, Grand President—I, as the representative of Royal Murder, alongside my partner here, Angel Sangrenoble, have a proposal for everyone here…"

Angel lifted her head—the gold eyes, silver lips, and beautiful face made her look like an angel descended from heaven.

"A proposal? I am interested."

Victor said and motioned for him to continue.

The general manager of Royal Murder, Gaspard, nodded, fixed his tie, and then said.

"We propose a showmatch between the members of each team. Thirteen fighters here, one from each team, in a battle royale-style event."

The eyes of other general managers shot up in surprise and had their own thoughts about the suggestion—but they all knew that Gaspard had some agenda!

"Interesting suggestion… We had the starting ceremony already planned, but we could fit this showmatch into the schedule. It sounds like a perfect way to start the championship."

Victor said, liking the idea.