The Martial Unity

"It's that time, is it?" She asked him as she took note of the depth of the weight of his mind. She wasn't sure what it was, but she had the faintest sense he had grown stronger than just the number of techniques he had.

Rui had already requested her for a match ahead of time when he began refining his mastery of the Mind Palace technique.

The sparring facility was littered with Martial Apprentices. A routine sparring session with the Martial Apprentices was ongoing, yet they were surprised to see Rui. He hadn't shown up to one of these in a long time.

"Yes, I'm ready." He told her.

"Alright, come along." She told Rui as one of the assistant instructors took over her duties.

"I recall long ago that you and Kane managed to push me to use a Squire-level technique against the two of you." She said as they hopped onto a large sparring ring. "You've come a long way since then."

"I hadn't understood how much you were holding back then." Rui replied. "The fact that I've grown vastly stronger since then and am yet so far away from you is truly astounding."

"You're not as far away as you might think." She said with a pointed tone. "Perhaps we'll find out just how close you are in this fight."

"That is what I wish to know as well."

"I can limit my power, defense and movement speed to the general peak of the Apprentice Realm." She told him. "However, my reflexes and reactions will remain at the Squire Realm. I cannot change that."

"I understand." He said.

"Good." She said as her eyes narrowed. "Then I don't have to worry."

A powerful wave of pressure fluctuated across the sparring facility as every Apprentice's attention inadvertently shifted towards its source.

Kyrie took a neutral stance, catering equally to offense, defense and maneuvering.

Rui simply closed his eyes.

He was fighting a Martial Squire. If he did not atleast draw out the best from within himself, he was not worthy of this opportunity.

The gravity of the air around intensified.

His mind converged as he gathered every ounce of focus.

This fight meant a lot to him. It was even more significant to him than the Martial Contest. He felt an unprecedented amount of energy saturate his muscles. His body quivered with power.

When he opened his eyes, he had already taken his stance.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"As ever."

Kyrie didn't even hesitate.

WHOOSH

RUMBLE

just the briefest of moments, she had entirely crossed the distance between them, swinging a swift and

WHOOSH

evaded the blow as he swerved past it. Kyrie immediately followed up with blinding speed as she launched a barrage of swift yet powerful

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH

bobbed and weaved as he evaded the strikes

BAM!!!

rolled out of the way of a heavy drop kick the shook

him. Rui's instincts screamed as she unleashed an avalanche

And yet.

blow managed to

barely redirected and barely

did not inflict any meaningful damage

Kyrie frowned.

she should have been stronger and faster,

but he

she was going to

eyes widened at

a bit affronted. Even if she was holding back, she was still using enough power to be above him on

hadn't even been a Martial Apprentice, was fighting better than herself? A veteran Martial Squire who

an overbearingly proud person. In fact, she was quite down-to-earth despite

But still.

a Martial

she began moving more sharply. She wasn't breaking her word and using her power beyond what she promised, but she was moving accurately

BAM!

noticed it had become harder

to work against a more

he needed to be pushed if he wanted to test the prowess of his

for a long time

It was time.

preparations were complete.

It was time.

to find out whether his efforts with the

stepped forward, shifting her weight onto her left foot as

as his mind flashed into