NOVPUBDusk Town, Kitsune Dojo.
Within the yard of one of the mighty dojos of the Dusk Town, a flaming road stretched out before the students.
Its flames were tall and bright, illuminating the night sky with an otherworldly glow.
It didn't look like anyone could step through the flaming hell of a road without getting severely burned to ashes.
"With our seven fighters chosen, one test remains. If you do not pass the Road of Kitsune, you don't deserve to take the stage tomorrow."
Freya, the master of Kitsune Dojo, said with a serious tone.
She put her hands on her waist, pushed her big chest forward, and glared at the seven young ones in front of her.
The rest of the students sat on the sidelines, smacking drums with ferocity, creating a tense atmosphere in the dojo.
Boom~ Boom~ Bam~ Bam~
"Who is brave enough to go first?"
Freya asked.
At that moment, one hand rose, and it wasn't a surprise who it was—it was the strongest student of the dojo, who was chosen as one of the fighters already a year ago.
She had reigned as the strongest student for the entire year after the previous students graduated and moved to bigger things in the world of martial arts.
Genevieve Laurent!
With a smile, Genevieve walked to the flaming road, its hot steam rising around her like a smoke cloud, and threatened to engulf her in its fiery embrace.
"Do not fear the flames. Kitsune's spirit will guide you through the fires of hell!"
Freya shouted.
"Yes, the spirit of the kitsune will be with me."
Genevieve breathed in and out, then jumped into the fire, and she became invisible to everyone as she was clouded by the smoke.
The drumming turned into a deafening roar as she descended deeper into the flames, and despite the road being merely five meters, the seconds inside turned into minutes.
While some started to turn nervous, Freya stayed calm, as if she knew something others didn't, and then.
Through the flames, Genevieve stepped out, unharmed, a triumphant smile on her face, and despite it feeling like only seconds to her, she was inside the flames for two minutes.
"Ah~"
She breathed out in relief, feeling the cool breeze on her skin, and then felt a touch on her shoulder.
With a smile on her face, Freya handed the scarlet-red belt to Genevieve, and congratulated her for officially passing the challenge.
Seeing Genevieve do it, the rest of the chosen fighters sprang to their feet and did the same test.
Some took a few minutes, like Genevieve, and a few took nearly ten minutes to cross the flaming road, but eventually they all passed.
And with scarlet-red belts wrapped around their waists, they went to the balcony, and enjoyed the past-challenge flaming tea from the mountains of Dying Kitsunes.
In the mountains of Dying Kitsunes, Freya took her final leap in shedding off her mortal shell, and finally became Martial King.
It was a rare type of tea, and since it was of limited quantity, this was the only chance they had to drink it, so they took their sweet time.
Standing in the doorway of the balcony, Freya looked at the phone in her hand, scrolled it down, and then said.
"Yokai and Ghoul have already chosen their fighters—I will also announce ours shortly, but it looks like Wraiths are not quite done yet."
"Oh, who have they chosen?"
Kurosawa Sora asked with a bright expression.
She was one of the youngest students of the dojo, but her promise was great in the field of martial arts, which was why her parents took her and her big brother to the dojo to be trained.
It had been three years since they had seen their parents in the flesh.
Kurosawa Hiroshi, her big brother, looked extremely serious, as he had taken on the role of protecting his little sister ever since their parents left.
He has had to chase off many young men who have chased after the skirt of her little sister, but none of them have succeeded.
"From Ghoul Dojo—Arturo Zaccari, Koa Mokana, Kourosh Bahrami, Pema Dorji, Callum Fraser, Hugo Moreau, and Leon Garcia."
Freya stated.
"Oh, not Malik? I thought he would be chosen."
Vasil Morozov said with a deep voice while gulping down the flaming tea down his throat.
He didn't seem to care that it was an extremely valuable drink and just drank it as if it was just another drink.
"I heard Malik got defeated by this Pema Dorji girl a month ago. I guess she took his spot, but that only means that Ghoul Dojo is now stronger than we expected."
Cem Yilmaz said while styling his mohawk.
"From Yokai Dojo—Arakawa Aoi, Dante Rojas, Gunwoo Park, Fiona McBride, Jun Taesoo, Ren Saelim, and Arakawa Kiernan…"
When they heard the last name, everyone frowned and looked over to her, who also looked at her phone with a frown.
"Another Arakawa? I thought Aoi was Master Arakawa's only living relative."
Ashkii Yazzie asked.
It was a question that was in everyone's mind, as they all knew about the Arakawa family and about what had happened to his family.
"There is some info about him. I'll check it out quickly."
Freya checked it out, and what she saw brought a great surprise to her.
"It looks like his name is Kiernan Hunter, but with his engagement to Arakawa Aoi, he is allowed to participate in the tournament."
"They are engaged?!"
Genevieve cried out with her mouth wide open.
She had met Arakawa Aoi and thought of her as a timid deaf girl but thought she was quite adorable and thought it would be easy for her to get a boyfriend or two.
However, she always seemed very distant, and she was one of the last people she thought would get married this young!
'Already engaged… this young.'
Genevieve looked at herself and thought that she was at the prime of her life, and there would already be people lining up to the other end of the town to marry her.
'Should I? No… that is crazy, but I am really interested in who this Kiernan fellow is!'
"Is this them just bypassing rules? I have never heard of this Kiernan fellow, and it wouldn't be possible for him to participate in the tournament without this engagement."
Vasil said with a frown.
"No. Master Arakawa is an honorable man, and there is no way he would sell his only granddaughter just for momentary pride in the tournament."
Freya said with a serious tone.
"I am sorry… Master, I didn't mean it."
Vasil lowered his head and cursed himself for letting those words slip out of his mouth.
He knew that the masters of the dojos respected each other even though their students might be fighting amongst each other whenever they saw each other.
