The Martial Unity

"Your resistance towards mental techniques is quite remarkable, even for a Squire candidate." Squire Luna informed him. "Apprentice Frix here alone wasn't able to maintain the hypnosis because you were developing too much of a resistance, I had to step in personally."

"Ah..." Rui recalled that he was able to resist offensive mental techniques. He recalled the first round of the Martial Contest where he had fought against a mental technique Martial Artist. He had been able to dominantly resist the influence of mental techniques back then.

The reason he'd forgotten about it here was that he thought he needed to actively resist the mental technique for it to affect the procedure. However, it turned out that he was wrong, his passive mental defenses alone were enough to hinder the Martial Apprentice, to the point that a Martial Squire had to intervene for the hypnosis to still be effective on him.

"My bad," Rui added apologetically.

"It's not your fault." She waved her hand dismissively.

"Your condition is remarkably well." Doctor Herin added. "We can begin the next session immediately if you so wish."

Rui nodded in response. "Please do."

Preparations were made and Rui closed his eyes as the hallucinogens entered his system, affecting him.

When he opened his eyes, he had returned to the white world that seemed to expand infinitely.

('Woah.') He got up with a jump. He glanced at his thin arms, unsurprised. This time, he was hallucinating a lightweight body. The abrupt shift from heavyweight to lightweight had caused him to use too much force.

He hopped on his feet lightly, amazed at how nimble he was.

Rui appeared at a distance

a speed and agility he could scarcely fathom, crossing the distance between them

POW POW POW!

fluidity. Yet, fake Rui didn't even bother blocking them. Rui frowned as he realized his

Elastic Shift, Acute Edge, and Adamant Reforging. They weren't even able to come close. Fake Rui's defensive prowess was extremely high, not only because he had four potent techniques defending him at any time, but because three of the techniques

apply these techniques with far greater timing and placement than almost any Martial Apprentice he knew,

of ever taking him down with

was. He still had solutions against fake Rui if he used

WHOOSH

made in his previous mental fight was still effective,

PEW!

it ever had before, whistling as it cut through the air, burying itself in fake Rui's

Flowing Canon amplified with many techniques at fake Rui. Although ordinary blows could not even faze fake Rui,

BAM!

resumed, just as Rui had aimed for.

He was a ghost.

body, took center stage as they shined brightly. Parallel Walk, Balanced Direction, Wind Breathing, and Phantom Step. These techniques combined with the VOID algorithm allowed Rui

his staggering lack of power was painful to watch. He launched many an attack, yet they all mostly bounced off fake Rui's powerful defensive prowess. Only

any significant damage through the Stinger?') Rui cursed. Although his speed and maneuvering allowed him to move around like the wind,