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

a path he wanted to

step, the

a shock, jerking

around spotting

completely confused. It took him a

same dream again...') He

my match?" His eyes widened as he

silent

inflicting a critical wound. But the damage you took from her last strike had crossed the threshold, you fell unconscious not fifteen seconds

sighed, closing

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

deep breath as he

a monstrous prodigy that has been cultivating techniques for six years. The odds were stacked against

words. "Remember what 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

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

in her era, yet

She mused. ('How

both of you. However, I do not intend to let this failure hold me back." he said

his hands, as a slight smile

and reforged his world view of what was possible and what wasn't. It expanded his view of Martial

grinned widened as he thought of all the various techniques he would master in his next training

already left the past,

* * * *

a chair as she gazed outside the window of her

sparkling cup sat atop a table some distance away, drawing

a matter of boundless prestige,

was in a pensive mood, unsure

wasn't sure about how she felt of

was declared the Martial Champion and given

KNOCK KNOCK

She absentmindedly

"Miss." Her butler bowed.

"What is it?"

summoned you." He said,

nodded, having expected

she walked towards the center

where the study of Sage Damian Roschem