Martial Arts Association

"We're here."

King followed Silver Fang to his dojo after arriving at City Z.

Bang's dojo was located at the edge of the forest between City Z and City Y, built on a cliff. When King got out of the car and looked up at the stairway that seemed like it had reached all the way to the heavens, he felt the urge to turn around and leave. This place was a replica of the eighteen floors of Mount Tai, with steep stone staircases carved into the gap between the two mountain peaks. It was truly a divine sight.

"King, is this your first time coming to our dojo?" Bang asked with a smile, "This long stone staircase was built for the training of the dojo disciples. Usually, the disciples would run up and down the stone steps. This old man's strength was also cultivated day after day on the stone steps. Sigh, that is all in the past. Let's not talk about it anymore. Let's hurry up. Charanko must be waiting anxiously."

"That... Bang, can I ask a question?"

"What?"

"Is there an elevator? Escalators are fine too."

"..."

When Bang said that there was no other way to go up the mountain other than walking, King could only sigh in his heart and clench his teeth. He started climbing.

"Huhu ---"

King was able to climb normally for the first few minutes, but he immediately gasped for breath not long after. His physical fitness was laughably poor. Bang had disappeared long ago.

"This is killing me." The sight of endless stone steps numbed his head. He almost turned around and went down the mountain. However, when he thought about his safety without System, he patiently and arduously climbed up. He took a break every ten steps and stopped every hundred steps.

When he finally reached the top of the mountain, he immediately fell to the ground. His entire body was soaked in sweat, and he gasped for breath. He didn't even have the strength to move a finger right now.

Oh?

Bang looked at the exhausted King with his hands behind his hunched back. His eyes were full of doubts. Is King really that tired from climbing a small mountain?

According to what he knew about King's strength, King should be able to easily climb up the stone steps of this level. How could he be sweating like a swine?

Could it be...

His pupils shrank as he solemnly observed King on the ground. That's right, King must have actually used the mountain as a chance to train himself. Logically speaking, with King's strength, he won't break a sweat even if he ran full speed up and down the stone steps. There was only one explanation for his current condition. King had mobilized every muscle in his body to maximize energy consumption while climbing the mountain. He unleashed all his energy in a short period of time.

Bang was overwhelmed with emotions. It was no surprise that King had so much power. He incorporated training into his daily life, endlessly persevering to finally become the strongest man in the world.

The heavens are rewarding the diligent!

Unaware of Bang's emotions, King was nervous. Could it be that this old man Bang saw through my real strength? Sigh, no matter. I was originally the lucky Hero. Even if they found out about me and I can't be King anymore, I would be happy to return to my life as a normal otaku.

However, Bang didn't ask anything about his strength until he finally recovered from exhaustion. Confused, he followed Bang into the dojo.

The front yard of Bang's dojo was serenely decorated with flowers and trees. There were rows of buildings to house disciples of the dojo, although most of them were empty. According to what King knew, only one disciple should be left in the dojo - Charanko.

The main dojo building was like a small gymnasium with a wooden floor; one must take off their shoes to enter. The dojo was also empty, and only a piece of calligraphy hung on the wall; it reads "bravely advancing!"

Bang's only disciple Charanko was sweating while he was cleaning the floor.

"Hello, Charanko, have you finished cooking? There is an important guest visiting today." Bang greeted Charanko with a smile while inviting King in.

"Master, you are back." Charanko looked up at Bang with delighted eyes. "Have you eliminated the giant Monster?"

"When I arrived, King had already killed the giant." Bang pointed at King, who was taking off his cap.

"King?" Charanko shifted his eyes to King, and his eyes immediately lit up. "The strongest man on Earth—King?"

"Yup." King averted his eyes. That kind of reverent praise hurt his ears. Charanko looked at him with glittering eyes, and he felt like vomiting.

Sigh, being the idol of thousands of boys and girls is also very tiring!

"Charanko, don't just stand there. King is going to stay in our dojo for a few days, so take him to the guest room. I will prepare ingredients for tonight's hotpot." Bang woke Charanko up from his daydream and told him to lead the way.

"Oh, oh... Mr. King, please follow me." Charanko hurriedly led the way for King.

"Yes." King followed Charanko to the guest room. The guest room was not big, but it was well-equipped. It was clean and tidy, with a clean bed and a spotless bathroom.

"Mr. King, do you need anything else?" Charanko fidgeted nervously.

"I think that's everything. There is nothing else I need." King shook his head.

He wanted to take a bath. Between traveling from B City and climbing the mountain, he had sweated a lot on the way, and it was quite uncomfortable.

"Well, take your time. I will call you when the hotpot is ready. There would be something special in the hot pot tonight; the Martial Arts Association just sent a few boxes of fresh high-grade beef to my master. You have to taste it."

...

"The Martial Arts Association, huh?"

King watched the enthusiastic Charanko leave. He filled the bathtub with hot water and relaxed, recalling the information about the Martial Arts Association.

In One Punch Man's world, the Heroes Association does not have a monopoly on high-level combat force. There were also the Martial Arts Association, Sword Saint Society, and other related groups.

All these organizations have comparable strengths to the Heroes Association. For example, the Martial Arts Association has Grandmasters of various martial arts in the world as its members, including Bang and Bang's Onii-chan Bomb. They were very strong.

The Sword Saint Society was also a terrifying organization. The fourth S-class Hero Atomic Samurai was a member of the Sword Saint Society. Who knew what other swordsmen they have; maybe there were other abnormal level swordsmen hidden in it!

Therefore, although the Heroes Association seemed to be very powerful, it was only one among many organizations that could compete with it.

Of course, when Saitama joined the Heroes Association, Heroes Association's combat strength rose far beyond its competition. After all, that bald head's strength is enough to rival a dozen million battle experts!

Sigh, when System recovers, he would have to find Saitama and build a friendship with him as soon as possible to guarantee his safety. System is far too unreliable compared to Saitama's protection.

King thought from the comfort of the warm bathtub.