Martial Arts Worlds

It turned dark in the small town of Letzer Island.

The street lamps came to life as they cast a warm glow over the rock-tiled roads.

It was getting pretty empty in the streets as families sat around their dinner tables and enjoyed a quiet evening together.

The last of the navy soldiers took a quick look at the main street before they started heading to the navy fortress for shift change.

While all that was happening, a young man walked down the main street with a long-handled axe in hand.

He was walking towards the shining tree—the lightbulbs on the tree's branches shone brightly in the dark night.

"Iron Armament Style!"

Kiernan grabbed the axe with both hands, swung it over his left shoulder, and took a large step towards the tree.

The silverware clinked against the plate in the nearby households. No one had their eyes on the tree. They were all too busy enjoying their warm meals.

"The Sundering!"

The axe smashed into the tree's bark. Chunks of wood flew in all directions. The blade of the axe went cleanly through the trunk, and the tree fell backwards with a resounding crash.

The ground shook as a result of that, and now, the dinner-enjoying townspeople all looked through the gap in the curtains to see what had caused the commotion.

They couldn't believe it.

A tree that had been there since the birth of this town had been cut down by a young man who was hiding his face with a cap.

The everlasting happiness vanished from their hearts, and they started to feel more of the negative emotions, which had been bubbling inside them for who knows how long.

At the place of the tree, only the tree stump remained.

Kiernan dropped the axe to the ground, and with his brute strength, he lifted off the tree stump with all of its roots still attached.

"Iron Style, Gaia's Embrace!"

He lifted it off and tossed it aside effortlessly.

A hole emerged in the middle of the town square.

Kiernan leaned to see what lay beneath the newly created hole, and to his pleasant surprise, he saw a treasure chest, covered in dirt, but still had its gold shine.

"Heh."

He smiled, then moved over to the hole and lifted the treasure chest. It was pretty heavy, but for someone who could lift up the ground, it was not that big of a task.

Kiernan, with the treasure chest in his arms, took off running towards the direction of the harbor.

After a few minutes of his departure, the navy soldiers came with rifles in hand, and they saw the townspeople mourning for the lost tree.

It had been there ever since they were children—some were only children when they moved to this newly created town, and ever since the first buildings, the tree had been there.

They didn't know what it was, but they had lost all the happiness that they had felt since they were children.

None of them expected to have such strong feelings towards the tree, but none of them knew about the cursed tree's effects on them.

The cursed tree was now dead; therefore, its happiness effects were no longer present in this area.

…

At the silver-sailed pirate ship, the waves stayed calm, but the three people on the deck realized that there was something going on.

"I see movement," Daphne said as she squinted through the spyglass.

She saw navy soldiers sprint down the hill from the fortress with rifles in hand.

"It looks like he did it~" Wren crossed her arms below her breasts. "Will he get caught, I wonder."

"He won't," Julian said coldly. "Get ready to leave; we're going to need to move fast."

Wren let out a soft yawn, moved towards the anchor lever, and tapped it gently. All she had to do was pull the lever, and they would be on their way.

The wind started picking up from the north, and the waves started to move ominously.

Julian's eyes narrowed as he looked towards the town. He couldn't see the familiar sight of the black-haired young man anywhere.

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However, as Wren was about to open her mouth, they heard footsteps, and when they turned around, they saw a young man, carrying a treasure chest in his arms, heading their way.

"He made it," Daphne said in surprise.

She wasn't the biggest believer in Kiernan's odds of survival, but he managed to pleasantly surprise her.

"I told you." Julian smirked.

"I am impressed…" Wren said, and then pulled the lever.

The anchor started to slowly raise from the ocean floor.

Kiernan ran up the gangplank, and as he reached the deck, they pulled the gangplank up behind him.

The anchor was now all the way up, and the ship started to slowly move away from the dock.

"Whew!"

Kiernan dropped the treasure chest right in the middle of the deck and panted heavily. It wasn't easy to carry such a heavy item all the way from the town square.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Good job!" Julian patted him on the shoulder and looked greedily at the treasure chest. "I wonder what's there~"

He was rubbing his hands together like a greedy businessman.

"Don't touch it," Wren said sharply. "All of its contents will go to Ambrose."

"Huh?" Julian frowned. "Even if that chest has more than enough to purchase our freedom?"

"Yes, duh," Wren said, and moved her hair back. "We took you all the way here; it's our payment."

"That's bullshit!" Julian gritted his teeth.

"It's alright; that was the deal I made with Ambrose," Kiernan said. "It doesn't matter as long as we get our freedom."

"…" Julian looked at him and sighed. "I guess…"

The ship made its way back to the island where the Silver Hunt Pirates holed themselves up.

As soon as they made their stop at the beach, the pirates made their way out of the forest. They made their way up the gangplank and came across a surprising sight of the treasure chest.

"You actually found it?" Ambrose took off his gloves, pocketed them, and approached the chest cautiously.

A pirate handed him a crowbar.

Ambrose then pried the chest open and came across a dazzling pile of gold coins. It was one of the biggest treasures they had found.

"This is definitely enough to purchase your freedom," Ambrose said and looked at the two young men. "The deal is a deal, and I shall respect the pirate code. You may leave."

"Whew…" Kiernan let out a relieved sigh.

"Leave where?" Julian asked. "Are you planning to leave us stranded here?"

"Hmm~" Ambrose turned to the red-painted rowboat and smiled. "The rowboat is yours, my friends. Good luck on your journey!"

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