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 struck

to draw his strike away while simultaneously

and Balanced Direction had crashed into Gale, leaving him reeling. He just barely managed to throw up a guard as Rui pummeled him with short range

Gale leaped back, grimacing.

recuperate and regain his bearings, he rushed in. Gale panicked when he

another feint. This time he was a bit more prepared,

Rui didn't dodge

CLASP

it to reduce the impact while simultaneously grasping

The Binding Lash technique.

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

CRACK

Gale grimaced in pain as Rui managed to cleanly dislocate his arm. The Binding Lash technique allowed the user to dislocate and break arms as

these conditions

not just his defense but counter-offense as well, allowing him to increase the accuracy of his timing immensely. The VOID algorithm allowed him to consciously and actively analyze, evaluate and make a decision, while the Primordial Instinct technique allowed him to execute the

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

pain he felt, Gale did give up, struggling with everything he had. Despite the advantageous position Rui had,

and damage to Gale, had this been on Earth, this might have been a career ending injury, but in the world of Gaea, within the

even if Gale somehow broke through, he

of relief. He did not enjoy the act of inflicting pain on others. He carefully let go of Gale's arm, not wanting hurt

before throwing a bitter

He meant it.

fight that he'd displayed from 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

Rui offered a hand to

would