The majestic martial arts city

Once breakfast was finished, Lyn decided to stick with us as we headed for the main ward of the city. Irina seemed really giddy to show me the city, as she claimed the outskirts weren't a proper reflection of it's grandeur. Lyn echoed the sentiment, further adding to my anticipation on what this city was really like.

"And we're at the main gateway. Guess you can consider this the first real town. Unlike Jantar city, this place has far more future as well as interspecies mingling," Irina declared.

She certainly wasn't lying. The city was known as Xiongwei, and true to it's name, was a majestic sight. It was as if the ancient Chinese architecture of old had been given a futuristic coat of paint while retaining all it's original splendor. And that was just the stuff on the ground. There were buildings in the sky along with parks and landmarks.

I can kind of see why Jantar city was so lax, if this was the first sight I had seen in this era, I would have been overwhelmed. I'll have to thank both Irina and Selena for getting my feet wet to his era. Now, my journey truly begins.

...

Hopping around the sky, Irina and Lyn took me to all the best sights. Along the way, I encountered some alien races that I had yet to see. They seemed friendly, but what stood out to me about them were their martial arts uniforms.

"Xiongwei's actually quite popular for it's martial arts arena both globally and galactically. Thus many come to visit it and even partake in training or the martial arts fights themselves," Lyn stated.

"Martial arts are that big in this era?"

"Quite certainly, though the fights are more akin to a tun-based RPG, where you must select a move, and either defend, or attempt a counterattack. If the attack downs an opponent, that's a point, but if it's successfully defended or countered, that's a point for the other person. Spectators can have their fun betting on which move will win the face off."

"So wanna enter?" Irina grinned.

That was a hard pass. Martial arts aren't my forte, and even if they were, who knows what crazy techniques exist now. I don't want to be incinerated by a laser blast or some other futuristic finishing move.

"It might be best for you yourself to show her what it's like as she is still a human from 2024," Lyn nodded.

"Oh? Well then bet the house on me, cuz I've downloaded all the martial arts of old," Irina grinned as she tied up her hair in twintails.

Once we reached the arena, Irina signed up to compete while Lyn and I headed to the stands. Surprisingly, the stands were pretty much this era's modernized version of the good ole stands at sports venues from my time. Guess if something's not broken, you don't fix it.

Lyn gave me a crash course in how to get in on the betting. Each seat included it's own holographic screen which only the person with the corresponding seat ticket could use. This meant I didn't need to worry about downloading anything onto my phone, though that didn't stop Lyn from fiddling around with the smartphone she had cloned from mine.

"I heard your phone got updated, meaning the copies I have reflect it's true 2024 state. I heard in your time you needed betting apps, so I wonder if I can modify it to get the arena betting app on. Hmm, maybe I'll need a programmer..."

I'm glad she explained everything before she pulled out the phone as she's now in her own little world. More surprisingly, I smiled. In my time, people were often criticized for spending too much time staring at their phone screens. Yet here Lyn was, giddily playing with her phone while everyone else all sat quietly, almost uniformly. I guess since humans practically are smartphones, they can just play with their apps naturally.

"Don't miss the match now," I smiled as I tapped Lyn's shoulder.

"Ah! I lost myself! The match! It hasn't started yet, has it!? I have to try recording it!"

I couldn't help but laugh at how scatterbrained this woman was.

The match soon began with Irina walking out to face another woman on the center stage. Irina's opponent appeared to be a human woman, garbed in typical Chinese kung-fu attire. But what really stood out about the woman was her hair. While the sides of her head were completely shaved, the middle part was a long animated crimson dragon that continuously twirled around. It's long body and tail gave the woman a pompadour mohawk of sorts, but the marvel was easily the dragon's animated properties.

"Holohair is amazing, isn't it?" Lyn smiled.

"Yeah, it certainly caught my eye when I first saw it. But how do you even get it?"

"Oh? Those two didn't properly explain? Well, I don't want to give you the long-winded explanation, but basically you shave your head and get holoprojectors implanted in your scalp."

The explanation caused me to bite my lip. I was hoping it was something you could easily get without much issue, but shaving my head and shoving holoprojectors under my skin? No thanks. Already did the former once and hated it. I'll never forgive that bitch for tricking me like that even though she's likely long gone. Anyway, I shouldn't dwell on unpleasant memories of the past; the match is about to start.

...

Martial arts... I tried messing with them in the past. With all the various styles from both past and present, it's easy to download them and create all new styles. That's what piqued my interest in the first place as just maybe this could be the cure for me boredom. I was wrong.

Sure, during a martial arts fight, you do perform some flashy moves, ones that could sent people flying and make loud noises, but it doesn't feel exciting. I blame it largely on how human's have evolved to be more like emotionless computers. Sure, we still have lots of emotion and can download it too, but that's the problem. Once we start fighting, Hana's gonna see it, which is why, I gotta put on the show of my life. All those martial arts movies I downloaded better not fail me now!

As I walked out to the stage, there came the obligatory cheer, and I do mean obligatory. Once that's done, everyone goes silent as the contestants show off. Guess on one hand it's polite, but I'm sure Hana will be disappointed it won't be as rowdy like the crowds of her era. Worse, I'm up against Miss uptight herself, Jade Drago.

Don't let that flashy holohair of hers fool you; she's practically an emotionless machine when it comes to martial arts. No grunts, no smug grins, no banter, just performing the arts perfectly. And well, due to the way human's have evolved, they don't really care. Since this is a martial arts tournament, all that matters is the martial arts themselves. I get it, but it's so boring. At least throw in some banter.

"Irina Kobold. We have faced one time before in the year 2567 on the 14th day of the 6th month of the Gregorian calendar. To a good match," Jade bowed.

"Yeah, yeah, try and put on a show, dragon wig."

"I fail to comprehend the statement. It is not a atrial art."

"Oi, you could banter, you are human, right?"

"Correct, I am a Homosapien. Now we are to begin."

Just as she said, I fought her once before, and it sucked. I was flying all over the place, and the crowd wasn't even gasping in awe. Even when I tried bantering, nothing. No even a blurb about what I said in the match report.

When I asked Selena for her thoughts on the match, she only focused on the martial arts aspects, not caring about my banter as it was "unimportant" in the grand scheme of things. Well, this time, there's someone who might actually cheer for me, so I gotta put on a show.