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.

enchanted him, mesmerizing

was a path he wanted to

first step,

shock, jerking upright as he gasped for

glanced around spotting

completely confused. It took him a few moments to

again...') He thought to

happened to my match?" His eyes widened

silent for a

critical wound. But the damage you took from her last strike had crossed the threshold,

Rui sighed, closing

concealed immense disappointment and frustration. He had

breath as he exhaled

Squire Dylon said. "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 every way, in every possible parameter, yet you managed to not only push her going all-out but inflicted a critical wound that

I told you before the preliminary contest. Your Martial Path extends far beyond the Martial Contest, this is merely a checkpoint in your life. Do not let

fact that Rui was already half-way to being a Squire Candidate at the age of fourteen was

back in her era, yet even she couldn't begin to even fathom

She mused.

intend to let this failure hold me back." he

stared at his hands, as a slight smile

had shattered and reforged his world view of what was possible and what wasn't. It

thought of all the various techniques he would master in his next

had already left the past, greedily eying

* * * *

outside the window of

a table some distance away,

a

pensive mood, unsure

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

declared the Martial Champion and given

KNOCK KNOCK

in~" She

"Miss." Her butler bowed.

"What is it?"

has summoned

nodded, having

as she walked towards

center, where the study of