Normal. That's what Leo thought of the world as he browsed through the internet for all kind of information. Entertainment to historical events or even celebrity-wise, there wasn't much of a difference between this world and his past one.
True, the names of celebrity and the dates of historical events were different, but the difference was negligible. The technology didn't seem much more advanced or different as well.
The one main difference between this world and his past world was the toughness of the living creatures.
Not only were most things faster and stronger, but the biggest difference was that they were almost unnaturally resilient. To illustrate that point, humans didn't think being knocked the fuck out was anything too problematic.
The taller fighter that was kicked so hard in the head that he flew a few meters after being dazed with an elbow to the chin was only slightly concerning but nothing life threatening!
Not only were there people that could kick you through the air, but the victim didn't die from it! This is completely insane.
Fortunately, this was only concerning trained people. Normal people were only slightly superior to what Leo was used to.
Leo was a bit worried about the ferocious animals since they seemed a lot more dangerous but since he didn't live anywhere near tigers or lions, he wasn't too concerned about that.
Oh yeah, ligers were a thing now nature decided. Hybrids in general didn't seem to have the same detriments that Leo remembered. So, ligers were able to pass on their genes just fine.
Of course, the thing that Leo was most fascinated by were the martial artists. He watched some videos of a fight on MyMovie.
The fight was a world championship challenge a decade ago. The level of expertise was beyond something Leo thought of was possible. It made the two fighters he saw a few hours ago seem like some amateur newcomers.
They didn't fight in a cage as the fighters could easily shatter the metal bars turning them into shrapnel deadly for the audience. The audience sat a few meters above the ring with a strong net covering them incase a fighter was sent flying at them.
Honestly in Leo's opinion it resembled a colosseum a bit too much, but he wasn't unfamiliar with the human savage side so he couldn't say he was surprised.
Leo turned the pc off as his family came home. "Leo? Are you home?" His mom asked as she opened the door. "Yes, coming!" Leo went to the front door and helped them move everything inside. After half an hour they had emptied the car.
"Something wrong buddy?" His dad asked Leo as he plopped onto a chair in the kitchen. John had noticed that he was unusually silent.
After he took a deep breath Leo finally asked. "Can I join an MMA school?"
To be honest the revelation of this world's level of martial arts did not have a huge impact on what Leo planned.
Leo had already planned to become a world champion in this life. Just because the ceiling was higher didn't mean he wouldn't reach for it.
The only difference was his reliance on his memories. He initially wanted to build his foundation with his experience about training before joining a nearby martial arts school. To be honest he was a bit scared to show his seasoned skills as a martial artist. He made some excuses in his mind to not join a school, for example not wanting to be found out that he had memories of his past.
He should know better. After all, he already made a similar mistake in his past life. Then, he always dreamed about joining a martial school and becoming the next world champion, but he thought he would only embarrass himself with his unfit body.
Rather than joining a school and training his body with the actual sport that he wanted the body for, he had trained his body in the gym for 5 years.
After those short years he even reached a highly desired level of fitness, he even forgot that he started training for martial arts. At that point he just wanted to improve his body in every way. Reach a new level and learn new skills.
Although, his endurance, strength and agility were usually worse than those that were highly specialized in one category, he beat them in the other categories with ease.
After searching for new ways to improve, he thought of training something that would also give him a useful skill to have. So, he finally thought of joining a martial school to improve his fitness and gain a skill along the way. He had come full circle.
The training was difficult as he used muscles that he normally wouldn't have. Even with his level of fitness he was dead tired after every training.
However, at that point in his life he was already disciplined enough to pull through those exhausting training sessions while he continued to train in the gym. He adapted fast and in the beginning he even prioritized his martial arts training.
Although he had the advantage of a strong body and was probably one of the fittest students, he still lacked in the skill compartment. He would easily be outmatched against the experienced ones. In most cases he lost even to those that were a lot weaker than him.
In the beginning his punches and kicks weren't that strong either. He had the necessary muscle, but he couldn't transfer it into a punch as well as they did. Of course, mental inhibitions came into play as well.
The sad thing was that he learned rather quickly, and it was clear that he was fairly talented in combat. It reimplanted that idea of getting the title of world champion.
From then on, he thought since he was talented and driven, he could one day become a champion but the longer he trained and knew about the difficulties in combat the more he admired those that were already living his dream. It motivated him to push harder but it also made him recognize the reality.
He had only started training martial arts when he was 22. Every other person fighting for a world title were just as driven and talented as he was with the additional decade of experience.
He would have needed to train so hard that he could erase their childhood, youth, and young adulthood of training before his body became too old to keep up.
He knew that he would probably never become a world champion, so he gave up on his dream. He still fought from time to time, but it was just another hobby for him and to keep himself sharp.
In the end, he still had a job, a girlfriend, and other responsibilities that he had to look after. He couldn't just drop everything at the thought of grandeur. It would forever remain a skill that he could brag about having and maybe even use it on the off chance of having to defend himself.
Now, however? He was a 7-year-old child with almost a decade of experience of improving his body and mind. If he couldn't become one of the best, who could?
That's what he initially thought, but seeing those monsters, he had decided to accelerate his plans a lot.
'Given the resilient of these new world humans, there were probably freaks that started training as soon as they could walk. I can't let them widen the gap! I have already wasted enough time waiting for my mental state to get fixed!'
Leo's blood was boiling. The longer he thought about it the stronger his desire to improve became. This was why he had asked his father to join an MMA school.
In his past he had trained in kickboxing and then joined a Muay Thai school after moving out. He knew some moves of judo, but they were just some parlor tricks that his friends showed him.
He felt that he could rely on his experience for the striking aspect of martial arts, at least in the beginning. He would need to learn some grappling as he hadn't any experience in it. He thought about aiming for the title of the best kickboxer, but one should aim high, right? He wanted- no he desired to be crowned as the greatest fighter, regardless of the category.
Therefore, he wanted to learn at a local MMA school. MMA incorporated striking and grappling. Of course, the disadvantage was clear. He wouldn't be as good as those that specialized in their art, but he could just fill the gaps by joining a different school afterwards.
But now he had to stick with the local schools. He already looked up possible options on the internet and there were few that fit his criteria.
For one, Leo didn't want to travel an hour to and from his school. He had to be efficient about this. He couldn't sacrifice his own or his parents time by spending it on a bus or being driven by his parents. Besides a long drive would only chip away from his motivation to go to the school. Either way there was much to learn and research to be done that he had to do at home.
Second, at the school he needed to be able to learn fighting standing up and on the ground. Even if they only taught these styles separately, he could try to integrate it into his fighting style himself. He decided that he wouldn't budge on the idea of becoming the most complete fighter.
His father raised an eyebrow. "I know that you want to learn how to fight. How about I train you for some time before-"
"I have already decided! I won't abandon it like my Tamagotchi, I swear!" His father could see the spark in Leo's eyes and couldn't help but be stunned.
He took a few seconds before a smile formed on his face. He ruffled Leo's hair as he answered.
"Alright. You little rascal. I will ask my mentor to take you in. You better not make me regret it!"
"I won't! …You have a mentor? Is he any good?" Leo asked doubtfully.
"What is that supposed to mean? Of course, he is good, he trained me after all!" His dad said as he showed off his biceps.
"That's why I am asking…" Leo mumbled under his breath.
"I will have to let you know that I participated in the tournament to determine the strongest fighter in our city!" He said proudly with his chest out while pointing his thumb at himself.
"Weren't you disqualified in the preliminaries?" His mom interjected as she was chopping up some vegetables for dinner. It made his father freeze for a second.
"I mean, only the best were able to participate and after I was allowed to-"
"Wasn't the tournament open for everyone who was affiliated with a school?" His mom ruthlessly squashed his self-esteem. "And didn't your master specifically forbid you to participate as you would just embarrass him?"
His mom seemed to chop a little harder with every word she said, but it seems like she wouldn't stop anytime soon.
"-be you shouldn't have wasted your time fooling around with that b*tch Eiri-" 'God mom! Stop kicking him he is already dead!' Leo thought sweating slightly. Obviously, he stayed silent, he didn't want to be another victim of her onslaught.
'Repent for your sins alone, dad. However, I shall witness the grace you maintain as you-. Never mind.' Leo thought as he watched his father hugging his mom's legs while kneeling.
It took some time before everything cooled down.
With a strained smile on his face John sat on the chair again. Leo pretended that he didn't see the tears at the corner of his eyes.
"*Cough* Alright. As I was saying, you shouldn't underestimate my mentor." He, not so subtly, glanced at his wife. "-Even with a worthless student like myself. He is very capable." Ally gave her approval with a nod.
"In which style does he specialize in?" Leo asked. Even though what his mom said had decreased the expectations he felt about his father's mentor. He could at least scout him.