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

combined power of Flowing Canon, Outer Convergence, Parallel Walk 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 blows boosted with the power of Outer Convergence

Gale leaped back, grimacing.

Rui wasn't kind enough to let him recuperate and regain his bearings, he rushed in. Gale panicked when

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

Rui didn't dodge or

CLASP

him, moving with it to reduce the impact while simultaneously grasping Gale's arm with all four

The Binding Lash technique.

of defeating Gale, dragging outside the realm of striking which is where his specialty lied. In the domain

CRACK

pain as Rui managed to cleanly dislocate his arm. The Binding Lash technique allowed the user to dislocate and break arms as long as the timing was perfect and the

of these

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

but Rui had nailed the timing too well, that shoulder's fate was already

up, struggling with everything he had. Despite the advantageous position Rui had, he didn't give up and ruthless pressed and twisted the already dislocated

Earth, this might have been a 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

indicating his resignation. The pain was far too excruciating and even if Gale

immediately loosened his grip with a sigh of relief. He did not enjoy the act of inflicting pain on

exhaled deeply, getting up slowly, before throwing a bitter

He meant it.

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

man." Rui offered a hand to

he almost would not be chosen as the representative of the Academy. "I haven't given up yet though. On becoming the representative,