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

at frightening speeds. In just the briefest of moments, she had entirely crossed the distance between them,

WHOOSH

up with blinding speed as she

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH

bobbed and weaved as he evaded the strikes

BAM!!!

of a heavy

dashed after him. Rui's instincts screamed as she unleashed

And yet.

single blow managed to

barely dodged, barely redirected and barely

not inflict any meaningful damage

Kyrie frowned.

have been stronger and faster, yet Rui still somehow managed to defend

slower but

what she was

widened

affronted. Even if she was holding back, she was still using enough power to be above him on paper. The fact that she was not able to overwhelm him meant that he was applying himself better than

fighting better than herself? A veteran Martial Squire who was the best

wasn't necessarily an overbearingly proud person. In fact, she was quite down-to-earth despite

But still.

was a

as she began moving more sharply. She wasn't breaking her word and using her power beyond what

BAM!

noticed it had become harder

algorithm to work against a more static opponent, but now that she was fighting more dynamically, things would

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

wave of excitement. He had waited for a long time for what

It was time.

were complete. Everything was

It was time.

the Mind Palace technique

forward, shifting her weight onto her left foot as she launched jab with her right

his mind flashed into the