The Martial Unity

Rui opened his eyes slowly. An clear sky entered his field of vision.

He frowned.

Where was he?

He got up to his feet as he gazed forward, squinting as his eyes adjusted. A beautiful landscape extended as far as the eye could see as he gazed down at the breathtaking sight, appreciating its beauty.

But he was still confused.

He turned around, glancing at what was behind him, yet what he saw shook him to his very core.

He saw a path.

A path with profound depth.

A path he was on.

Yet what shook him wasn't the path itself.

No.

What truly shook him was treacherous calamities the path winded through.

Monsters.

Earthquakes.

Meteorites.

Land-breaks.

A torrent of devastating catastrophes littered his path.

It was a horrifying sight that inspired primal terror.

And yet, it inspired awe.

Through his terror, he could see profound boundless beauty in that path.

path enchanted him, mesmerizing him, whispering to

was a path he

step,

shock, jerking upright as

around spotting his

completely confused. It took him a few moments to remember what had

dream again...')

what happened to my match?" His

were both silent for

straightforwardly told him impassively. "You managed to get her with the Stinger, inflicting a critical wound. But the

see." Rui sighed, closing his

expressionless, but inwardly he concealed immense disappointment and frustration. He had given that fight his everything, but not even his everything

breath as he exhaled

"Your performance surpassed my every expectation. You're not even a two-year-old Martial Apprentice and you went against a monstrous prodigy that has been cultivating techniques for six years. The odds were stacked against you in

this is merely a checkpoint in your life. Do not let this halt or hinder your journey. You will one day

with certainty. Yet, she wasn't lying. The fact that Rui was already half-way to being a Squire Candidate at the age of fourteen

was touted as a genius back in her era, yet even she couldn't

Voidbringer...') She mused. ('How

you. However, I do not intend to let this failure hold me back." he said solemnly. "Instead, this failure will make me

his hands, as a slight

Contest had shattered and reforged his world view of what was possible and

he thought of all the various

eyes had already left the

* * * *

on a chair as she gazed outside the window of her

sparkling cup sat atop a table some distance

to be an honour and a matter of boundless

a pensive mood, unsure

She wasn't sure about how she felt of what she

and given that cup as the crowd went berserk with

KNOCK KNOCK

in~" She

"Miss." Her butler bowed.

"What is it?"

summoned you." He said,

simply nodded,

towards the

center, where the study of