The Martial Unity

The two dashed towards each other.

('I'm faster.') Rui realized.

Yet despite this, Gale's strike reached first.

WHOOSH

Rui dodged the strike.

Gale continued dishing an onslaught of strikes and Rui avoided all of them cleanly. Ever since he mastered Primordial Instinct, his timing had grown much sharper and more accurate. Its synergy with the VOID algorithm was truly impressive.

Gale didn't stop, his strikes were straight forward and had a huge range. He launched all of them from outside Rui's striking range, so Rui wasn't able to do much.

('He's a long-range striking specialist.') Rui realized. Each strike had a huge reach, and he launched them in a way that deliberately prevented Rui from reaching close enough to launch his own attacks.

Rui keenly observed this before making a decision, he stopped avoiding Gale and instead dashed against him once more.

A flash of surprise morphed into Gale's expression as he quickly launched a straight jab at Rui, growing even more surprised when he saw Rui didn't avoid them, and instead ran into it even faster. Just as the strike was about to hit Rui

WHOOSH

Rui disappeared.

('A feint!') Gale realized.

BAM

meteoric impact

had feinted with Phantom Step to draw his strike away while simultaneously using Flowing Canon once

Gale, leaving him reeling. He just barely managed to throw up a guard as Rui pummeled him with short range

Gale leaped back, grimacing.

enough to let him recuperate and regain his bearings, he rushed in. Gale panicked when he saw Rui dashing in, feeling an immense amount of mental pressure

strike at Rui, expecting another feint. This time he was a bit more

Rui didn't dodge or

CLASP

reduce the impact while simultaneously grasping Gale's

The Binding Lash technique.

apt way of defeating Gale, dragging outside the realm of striking which is where

CRACK

his arm. The Binding Lash technique allowed the user to dislocate and break

of these

his timing immensely. The VOID algorithm allowed him to consciously and

being much older, but Rui had nailed the timing too well, that

position Rui had, he didn't give up and

career ending injury, but in the world of Gaea, within the Martial Art, this wasn't much of a big deal. Healing potions ensured that Gale would make a fully

was far too excruciating and even if Gale somehow broke through, he had no chance of winning with a mangled shoulder

of relief. He did not enjoy the act of inflicting pain on

before throwing a

He meant it.

start to finish. Rui had shown him just how big the gap between them was. Gale had spent a long time in the Academy, and even with his mediocre growth, he had come to accumulate more power than most Apprentices in the Academy currently. But Rui still beat him cleanly, while holding back too, Gale

hand to

now that he had lost to Rui this cleanly, even if he won every other fight, he almost would not