"Lalalala~"

Renette bopped her head to the rhythm of the song.

She was sweeping the ground of the fallen leaves, and she had some earbuds in to listen to the music.

The music had evolved much more than she expected from eight hundred years ago.

Back in those days, it was mostly piano and violin music, but these days there was a wide variety of instruments and genres.

It was pretty overwhelming, but she took a quick liking to pop music, as she liked its catchy melodies.

"Where did you hire her?"

Aoi asked while she was sitting by the steps of the dojo building with Kiernan.

She woke up to see that Kiernan had hired someone that she had never met before, and it just felt very sudden.

"I just found someone looking for a job and hired her. It's not like being a caretaker is that difficult, and now you don't have to do those things."

Kiernan said.

He also gave Renette another job—protecting Aoi—as he was not going to always be with her, and now that she was pregnant, her safety was more important than his.

Renette didn't mind doing so.

Kiernan didn't fully trust Renette still, but if she harbored ill intent, Fen would've caught that long ago.

"I'll be going off for a while. When the students arrive, tell them to do Kill Exercise Training over in the Lower Halls."

Kiernan said and stood up.

"Alright!"

Aoi said with a chirpy voice.

Kill Exercise Training was a killer workout that consisted of intense cardio and strength training exercises.

In that moment, Kiernan left with invisible Fen following right behind him.

…

On the mountainside of Montrael, the Demon Wolf ran across the rocky terrain with speed so great that it was truly terrifying.

Kiernan in his Demon Wolf form was literally a monstrous beast over a hundred meters tall that could run faster than jet.

He came to the mountainside to train his newly acquired Demon Wolf form in order to fully unleash its potential.

He had been practicing his Black Darkness powers as well as there were still plenty he had to learn.

Kiernan had found out that in his Demon Wolf form, he could change sizes at will, and thus, he could use that form as a disguise.

He was able to transform into Fen's size and had a little play fight with him to also train him to fight better.

"Whoo…"

The yellowish wheel of fire—the sun—was currently at the highest point of the sky, indicating it was midday.

Kiernan took a little break, sat down on a rock, and looked down at the steep hill in front of him, where the trees descended down in a cascade of green and brown.

From this position, he could see the entirety of the mountainside and the faraway city of Montrael.

"Huff…"

Kiernan drank some water.

He was enjoying the view, but in that moment, his phone buzzed, and he quickly took it out.

He thought that the message must be from Aoi, as he doubted anyone else would be texting him at this hour.

However, the message came from the government itself.

[Government: Welcome, Master Kiernan! You, and your dojo, Martial Redemption, have been invited to join Martial Arts Meet in Real Rokyo. It is the place to showcase the strength of your dojo and the martial arts that you teach!]

"Martial Arts Meet?"

Kiernan had never heard of it, and he immediately went to the internet to read more about it.

What he read and saw surprised him.

It was the biggest martial arts meet in the world, where countless dojos, and their masters were invited to compete in various competitions.

Kiernan was surprised that he was invited because his dojo was just Zero Star, and honestly, his students were still pretty weak.

He didn't think that his dojo was anywhere close to receiving the honor to participate in this prestigious event.

"…I wonder why my dojo was invited."

Kiernan shrugged his shoulders, pocketed the phone, and continued on training.

…

Action Street, Martial Redemption.

With water bottle in hand, Kiernan returned back to the dojo and saw his students packing their things and leaving.

They looked dead tired, as today's training was more exhausting than others.

There were Kill Exercise Training only once a week, and every student hated that day because they were pushed to their limits both physically and mentally.

"Good work."

Kiernan said.

"H-Have a nice day, master."

The students said weakly and stumbled out of the gate.

"How was training, honey?"

Aoi asked with a smile, and kissed him on the cheek.

Renette was watching from inside, and tried mimicking the way Aoi kissed Kiernan's cheek.

"Good… By the way, do you know about some Martial Arts Meet happening in Real Rokyo?"

Kiernan asked curiously.

"Are you kidding?"

Aoi said with a surprised look.

She looked very surprised that Kiernan had no idea what it was about, as it was one of the most important events for any dojo owner.

"It is an extremely important event! It is the place where dojos will fight for their Worldwide Dojo Ranking, and it is an event that only happens once a year.

"Therefore, dojos only had the opportunity to improve their ranking once a year, and that made it the most important event for any master!"

Aoi said in excitement.

"…I got an invite for it."

Kiernan said.

"Yes, the government has now formally recognized you as dojo master. I guess you helping with the Great White Shark put you in a good light with them!"

Aoi said with a smile.

"What do I need to know about it?"

Kiernan asked.

"…Well, you'll need to select which students you want to bring with you to the meet. This dojo is still barely out of its womb, but it is important to participate still.

"You don't have a Worldwide Dojo Ranking currently, as you haven't participated yet, so you need to participate now to get a rank."

Aoi said.

"Has your grandfather ever participated in it?"

Kiernan asked.

"Of course. Every year. It means that we will be meeting them there."

Aoi said with a smile.

She had even participated in it, and honestly, Yokai Dojo was stronger than Martial Redemption Dojo because they had Martial Masters and Martial Champions.

Still, they weren't even in the top 10,000 in the Worldwide Dojo Rankings.

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