Martial Arts Worlds - Chapter 794
Chapter 794: Responsibilities
“Ellie Hunter, where have you been?!”
Aoi was waiting at the front gate, her hands on her hips and a very stern expression on her face.
Earlier today, she received a phone call from Ellie’s teachers that she left school midday and hadn’t been heard from since!
Thus, she sent Jock to look for her.
“…I am sorry.”
Ellie hung her head low, clutching her skirt tightly, and avoided her mother’s gaze as much as she could.
“Haah… Go to your room, and we’ll talk later.”
Aoi pinched her forehead, and Ellie ran past her and up the stairs to her room. The students heard the door of her room slam shut.
“Where was she?”
She asked Jock.
“…I found her at the playground, but she wasn’t alone. Those purple cobra bastards were trying to take her somewhere.”
Jock said with a cold look.
“…What did you say?”
Aoi’s eyes turned demonic, and her hair started floating as if the gravity had turned upside down around her.
The students felt a cold chill run down their spines, and they looked at Aoi and turned pale after seeing her angry.
“It’s Master Aoi! She is angry!”
“Run away before it’s too late!”
The students ran inside, some ran over the stone walls, and others hid behind whatever hiding spot they could find.
They had learned one thing about Aoi, and that was to never be around her when she was angry because she was worse than demons.
Jock sweated heavily, and once, he was at the receiving end of Aoi’s anger, and he couldn’t stand straight for a month after that.
‘Purple Cobras… You have awakened the beast. You shouldn’t have angered Mother, who is as protective as Aoi.’
Jock drew a cross across his chest and hoped that he could survive the impending wrath.
“…I will deal with them later. I need to talk to you for now, Jock, about certain things.”
Aoi said.
Jock nodded, wondering what it was about, and followed Aoi inside the dojo. He also happened to have another gaze following him.
It was from Cleo.
He ignored it.
They sat down on a knee-high table, got some refreshing green tea from the cabinet, and poured the tea into small cups.
“You talked about your desire to leave Montrael. You have been leaving more often lately. Is something wrong?”
Aoi asked.
In the past five years, which was 60 months long, Jock has been probably only 14 of those months in Montrael.
The rest of the time he had been elsewhere training, competing, and just traveling around the world.
“…I’ve just been trying to break through to the Martial King realm, that’s all.”
Jock said.
“…Is that really?”
Aoi asked.
“…”
Jock didn’t answer.
In that moment, Aoi looked past Jock’s shoulder and at Cleo, who kept throwing sneaky glances in their direction.
“Is it Cleo? I know you two had an argument not that long ago, and it has been sour between the two of you, but…”
“It’s not about her.”
Jock said.
“…Really?”
Aoi asked.
She didn’t believe him one bit, and even Cleo refused to talk about what the argument was about, but it was clearly something serious.
“Haaah…”
Jock exhaled deeply.
He was frustrated because he couldn’t hide anything from Aoi, no matter how hard he tried, as if she could see right through him.
“She wanted to take the relationship more seriously, and I was not ready for that kind of commitment.”
Jock said.
“…More serious? How so?”
“Wanted to live together. I know she also respects you deeply, and I have seen her look at wedding dresses, and I think she wants to follow in your footsteps and get married early.”
Jock said with a sigh.
“Oh, is that so…”
Aoi traced her finger around the edges of the teacup, and she then looked at him.
“You don’t want to marry her?”
“In the future, sure, but we are basically still babies when you think about it. Martial artists can live hundreds of years, so I don’t really understand this rush to get married.
“I would want to only focus on martial arts until the Age of Growth ends, and then I can consider marriage.”
Jock said.
“I personally wouldn’t have been able to wait twenty more years to get married to Kiernan. When there is love, you just want to seal the deal, you know.”
Aoi said.
“Cleo and I want clearly different things. When I mentioned all this to her, she looked hurt and thought that I was thinking of her as a hindrance, someone who is holding me back.
“Which isn’t the case.”
Jock said.
“I am speaking from a woman’s view, and I can see why she thought of that. You think of marriage as a roadblock that prevents you from achieving your other dreams.”
Aoi said.
“…I mean, with marriage, there are other responsibilities, you know.”
Jock said.
“…Why do you think Kiernan got married to me or had a baby in the first place? You know the amount of talent he possessed, and his mind was full of dreams and ambitions.
“But why get married to me then? Or have a dojo? Those are all responsibilities that took him away from martial arts.”
Aoi asked.
“…I don’t know.”
Jock said.
“Me neither! His mind was always full of mystery to me. It was hard to get reading out of him sometimes.”
Aoi said with a sad look on her face.
“…I miss him.”
Jock said.
She raised her gaze at him, stayed quiet, and finished her tea in the absolute silence.
‘…Should I tell her about these dreams that I have been having? No, she hates if I give her any false hope. She is tired of the pain.
‘It’s just dreams either way, and it most likely doesn’t mean anything.’
Jock also finished the tea in silence, then returned back to training, and he kept his distance from Cleo.
They were training at opposite sides of the yard, and there was awkward tension between them, which students could sense.
“They sure act like children sometimes.”
Lumian said.
“Yawn, they sure are…”
Shiro yawned while sitting on the ground, looking bored.