Martial Arts Worlds

"Hey, wake up!"

The voice landed on deaf ears.

"Kiernan!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Mmh…"

Kiernan put his hand over his eyes and looked up to see Julian standing next to his bed with a frown on his face.

"What the hell did you do last night?" Julian asked. "Apparently we're heading over to Letzer Island? I've never even heard of that place!"

"Ah…" Kiernan sat up on his bed, his wild hair looking even wilder. "So, Ambrose told everyone it was my idea?"

"Yes, something about a treasure map or some shit," Julian crossed his arms. "So, is it real?"

"Yes, it is the real one." Kiernan said with a serious tone. "We might be able to buy our freedom."

Julian looked at him silently, trying to find any uncertainty from Kiernan's expression, but there wasn't any.

Then, he just smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Good, I am so tired of cleaning their messes!"

Julian sounded genuinely happy and was full of hope.

"First we must get the treasure," Kiernan stood up and went to a water bucket to wash his face.

"Ambrose is waiting for you outside." Julian said. "He told me to come wake you up."

"I see…"

After washing his face, he swallowed a half-eaten sandwich from last night and followed Julian outside.

The sails were unfurled, and they were already heading full speed to Letzer Island.

"You're awake!"

Ambrose sat on the railing, wearing a V-neck blue shirt and black jeans. He had a cup of coffee in hand that was still steaming hot.

"Captain."

Kiernan nodded and then turned his gaze beside Ambrose—there was a rowboat hanging from ropes a few meters away.

It had peeling red paint and a small, wooden oar tucked inside.

"Ready for your training?" Ambrose grinned and patted the rowboat.

"What kind of training?" Kiernan asked.

"We will drop you down in the rowboat," Ambrose said. "The rowboat will follow about twenty meters behind this main ship. All you have to do is try not to fall off the rowboat." Explore hidden tales at empire

"A classic Sea Steps training method," Julian said. "However, I haven't heard anyone do it like this. This is dangerous since the seas are filled with monsters."

"Are you going to do it, or will you chicken out?" Ambrose asked with a smirk.

Kiernan knelt on the ground, tied the shoelaces of his boots, and said, "Of course I will do it as long as this will actually help me to learn Sea Steps."

"You already know the basics of the Sea Steps. It's time to put the basics into use!"

A couple of pirates came outside to check out the spectacle. A few of them had done the same practice, and most of them fell off the rowboat in the first ten minutes.

It was a lot of trial and error before every one of them mastered.

Unfortunately, a few pirates died during this practice as they got eaten by the sea monsters that were lurking in the depths during that time.

Kiernan climbed onto the rowboat, and it was already shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Ambrose grabbed the lever and pulled it down with a laugh. The rowboat got lowered to the water, and it slowly floated behind the main ship before the rope tightened and stopped with a jerk.

The rowboat was about twenty meters behind the ship, following behind the ship with a steady pace.

It was shaking uncontrollably as the waves behind the ship grew larger and more aggressive.

The water spilled into the rowboat, and it was icy as hell.

"Whoo!" Kiernan took a deep breath and tried to avoid the icy water. "So cold…"

"Stand up!" Ambrose shouted from the ship. "The training is useless if you just sit still!"

The pirates watched with amusement. They were also making bets on how long Kiernan would last before falling off.

"I'll bet that he won't fall off!" Julian bet the last of his money on Kiernan.

"Hah, bad move, kid!" A pirate said with a grin. "Everyone falls off the rowboat; it is almost like a rule. It's just a matter of time."

"First time for everything, aye!" Julian looked over the railing at Kiernan, who was already struggling to stand up.

As Kiernan tried to stand up, the rowboat almost capsized under his weight, but he then straightened his arms forward, spread his legs wide, and stood in a horse stance.

However, it wasn't the correct Sea Steps stance, thus he couldn't just stay in the horse stance.

'Come on!'

Kiernan carefully lowered his arms and moved his legs together until he was standing normally on top of the rowboat.

He was focusing all his energy on the soles of his boots, trying to make them stick into the floor of the rowboat like magnets.

The rowboat kept wobbling as if the sea was intentionally trying to throw him off.

"Good, now stay on this stance!" Ambrose shouted.

Kiernan's shoulders relaxed, his mind finally embracing the movements of the boat. He felt a sense of calm wash over him as he began to sway with the rhythm of the waves.

It was a perfect state of concentration.

Strangely enough, within his body, grayish smoke began to form and swirl around him. It was leaving his body as if he were a steam machine.

As more of the gray smoke left his body, the better he felt, and the lighter his body became. It was as if he was shedding the weakness of his old self.

"That is…" Ambrose's eyes rounded in shock.

"Flow State!" Julian cried out.

Surprised, Ambrose turned to look at Julian as he didn't expect him to know about that.

"You know about Flow State?"

"Yes…" Julian nodded with a grin. "I once experienced it myself. It was like four years ago."

"How did you…"

"Luck!" Julian said in frustration. "I haven't been able to experience it after that. Flow State is truly an evil technique. It helps the person to be the strongest version of themselves, and it is such an addictive feeling that one cannot ever forget it.

"I was also addicted to that feeling of being powerful. I've tried to reach that state again, but I haven't succeeded."

"Not a surprise," Ambrose said. "Most martial artists can enter Flow State once in their lifetime, whether it was by luck or skill. However, the difficult part is to enter that state for the second time."

"Yeah, to reach that state second time, you would have to have mastered Flow State's requirements perfectly…"