Martial Arts Worlds

Sabbath typed something on Kiernan's phone, using both thumbs, as he grabbed the phone like a hawk would grab a small rodent.

"And… here we go!"

He showed the phone to Kiernan.

The small screen was black. In the center of it, there was a bar that one could write anything down. Like a search bar, basically.

"What is this?"

Kiernan took the phone.

"Chat app for members of Martial Order. There is a passcode requirement. Memorize it because I will only say it once."

Kiernan nodded, ready to write the code down on the phone.

"True immortality is belief. A belief that we will never die. It's fleeting, hard to keep hold of, but is ultimately the key to eternal life. Don't fall down to the pits of despair, because darkness will look back at you and smirk."

Kiernan wrote it all down, surprised by how long the mere passcode was. If he hadn't already written it down, he would've already forgotten about it.

'Let's see. I must quickly memorize it.'

He read it through over and over again. Slowly, yet surely, he began remembering it without having to look at the phone.

'Alright…'

Kiernan then pressed enter, and the screen changed from the black welcoming screen to a white screen.

[Write down your name]

"Before you continue. I'll tell you a few things. First of all, never reveal that you're Kiernan Hunter. Never. Everyone keeps their identities secret there.

"We talk about world news there mostly, but also exchange knowledge with equal trade. And always remember, trust no one there. We might be of the same order, but in the end, we don't really know why we were invited to Martial Order."

"How did you enter Martial Order?"

Kiernan asked out of curiosity.

Sabbath sighed, remembering the memories of the past, and then said.

"I was one of the first ones. A man appeared in my dreams. I can't really remember much of the dream, but when I woke up, I had this app on my phone, and for some reason, I remembered the passcode as if it was engraved into my memories.

"We, original masters of Martial Order, were the only ones there at first. However, then another person started talking there. He went by the name of Old King. We all believe that he was the man of the dreams, as his level of knowledge is beyond anything we've experienced.

"Old King told us to start recruiting disciples. Bind them with God's Contract before inviting them to Martial Order.

"He taught us things that we didn't think were even possible. God's Contract, for example, is an extremely powerful tool, but we aren't allowed to misuse it.

"Otherwise, we would be kicked out of the Martial Order, and I don't want to lose all the knowledge I've acquired."

Kiernan listened with a thoughtful look. By the sounds of it, this Martial Order was basically a secret society.

"Now that you know most of it, write a name for yourself, and then you can start talking in the chat. Make sure that the name doesn't really hint at who you are.

"I chose the name Rockstar because it misleads everyone. I am sure few of them believe that I am a singer or some shit since I travel a lot and have such a nickname."

Kiernan nodded, thought about his name for a quick name, then shrugged his shoulders and wrote a random thought into the name bar.

[Name: Revenant]

[Welcome to 'Martial Order' Revenant!]

The screen changed again.

From the white screen, the chat appeared on the screen. It was currently empty as if no one had ever talked there before.

At that moment, the first message appeared.

[User 'Revenant' has joined the chat!]

Ding! Ding!

A notification appeared on Sabbath's phone. He quickly checked it out and smiled.

"Revenant, huh? Good, very good."
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"Why is there no chat history? I thought you guys had been talking in the chat."

"The previous chat messages are hidden to you. The shared knowledge there is enormous, and you can't receive those knowledge free. You must pay for it."

"Can't you tell me?"

"Haha!"

Sabbath laughed and shook his head.

"I will only teach you martial arts. That knowledge will stay by my side. If you and another person of the Martial Order want to have a private exchange of knowledge, you two can enter a private chat room to do so.

"I've done that with a few."

Ding! Ding!

At that moment, messages started pouring into the chat room.

[Cold Shade: Welcome~ You must be Rockstar's disciple]

[Imperio: This brat survived the Bath of Pain?]

[Wingless Butterfly: Welcome to Martial Order!]

[Gentle Rose: Welcome to the club of the lonely. If you're willing to trade some knowledge or items of immense value, hit me up <3]

[Fish Who Drowns: Hello fellow disciple!]

"There are more people than I expected."

Kiernan said in surprise.

"There are quite a lot, yes. The number has increased in the recent years, but I don't mind. More the merrier, I say. Most of us are from different parts of the world, all brought together by our desire for learning and growth."

Sabbath said and wrote something to the chat app.

[Rockstar: Haha! My dear disciple survived the entire twelve hours in Bath of Pain. He didn't even make a single gasp of pain. I must have the best disciple of the Order, haha!]

[Imperio: You're such a fucking liar. You must've pulled him out of the Bath of Pain before the twelve hours were up, right?"

[Rockstar: Do I smell jealous coming from Imperio trash? It's understandable. Not everyone can have as amazing a disciple as mine]

[Hero Among Rulers: Calm down, kids! So embarrassing, honestly. You two should show an example to the younglings!]

Sabbath let out a victorious chuckle, pocketed his phone, and saw that his disciple in front of him was checking the messages with a twitching eyebrow.

'Sabbath is a keyboard warrior.'

Kiernan's eyebrow twitched, then he saw his slightly embarrassed gaze and decided to pocket his phone to spare him from further embarrassment.

"I forgot to explain one thing. Martial Order's members have three ranks.

"Grandmasters, Masters, and Disciples.

"You're a disciple. I am Master.

"There are only three Grandmasters in Order. You already saw two of them chat. They're Imperio and Hero Among Rulers.

"You can ignore Imperio. He is a dumbass. Hero Among Rulers is different; you can show him respect. He has a lot of knowledge about World Sea in general, so I believe he is from there.

"The last grandmaster is Old King. He rarely talks there. It should be obvious, but show him the utmost respect."

Kiernan nodded.

Then, they began to pack their things, and leave.

However, then Julian came running down a hill, hurry in his steps as if there were fire below his boots.

"Kiernan, something happened in the school! We were summoned to go there right away!"

"?!"

Kiernan frowned, nodded, and then ran after Julian.