The Martial Unity

A drop of sweat trickled down Julian's face as he watched Rui and Fiona facing off at each other with anxious tensions. All of the children were silent for once, staring at the two representatives facing each other off, not blinking.

Julian had seen wonders in the time that they had spectated the Martial Contest. He had witnessed the Martial Artists accomplish magical things one after the other. It shaken his worldview. Although he had worked with research teams that conducted research on Martial Art, he hadn't quite seen anything remotely comparable to this.

However, what truly caught his attention was seeing a side of his brother that he hadn't seen. Rui was normally very pleasant, but when he stepped on the ring, he had become incredibly intimidating and scary. He was also very strong, having made it to the finals.

Yet even Julian couldn't help but feel quite anxious when he saw that Rui had to face that monster girl who thrashed everyone she fought against.

He hoped Rui would be fine.

He was not the only one who felt that way.

"How do you think it's going to go?" Fae asked in a different section of audience stands.

"He has an uphill battle." Hever said calmly.

Kane didn't reply. He hated to admit it, but Fiona was stronger than he'd imagined. They were of the same age, but he didn't think he could beat her. In fact, the only reason they could even have a competitive match was because Kane had the Void Step technique.

He simply ignored Fae and stared at the duo.

"Take your stances." The referee instructed, down at the arena.

Fiona didn't move. However, Rui did expect this. He raised his heels of the ground, lightly hopping. It was a stance that facilitated agility.

"Begin!"

WHOOSH

in an instant, launching a powerful blow at

WHOOSH

surprise flicked onto her face. She hadn't expected

only evaded her attack but spun as he

BAM!

his own attack. He grimaced as he just barely managed to disperse a portion of the impact with Inner Divergence, shocked at her power. Only Fae could surpass her force, the fact that she could bypass his defense with ordinary strikes was ridiculous, not even Nel could do

POW POW POW!

the impacts as much as he could and open up some distance between

WHOOSH

of the role his enhanced mind

enough to overwhelm his reactions in close quarters like she

across her face

make his defenses stronger. Her offense power was overwhelming. Every single one

BAM!

Her raw speed was extremely high, surpassing his. He was able to compensate with his special circumstances, but not to the degree where he could evade even half her strikes, let alone all.

POW POW POW!

lashed out against him, throwing a barrage of strikes at him. Each strike was extremely painful, bruising him visibly. His arm had become a

he was

WHOOSH

BAM!

with Phantom Step, he charged with every ounce of his power, as he

BAM!

skidded away a bit as she blocked

it didn't make too big a difference. But it was the first strike he had cleanly landed on her. It was a symbol of his competitiveness, in a

at

WHOOSH

cleanly evaded her