The Martial Unity

"Individuality... and maturity?" She frowned.

"That's right." Rui nodded. "Individuality and maturity. Your Martial Art needs to obtain enough of both, otherwise, you won't be able to even survive the breakthrough process to the Squire Realm."

"What exactly do both of those terms even mean?"

"I was getting there." He nodded. "Individuality is a measure of how much your Martial Path diverges from others, and how much of its depth comes from you."

She wordlessly stared at him with a skeptical expression.

"Your techniques and the way you apply them, that is what need to possess individuality. They need to possess a measure of uniqueness and originality."

"So... I need to create my own techniques?" She frowned. "That's super difficult!"

"If it were easy, everyone would be a Martial Squire." Rui snorted. "But you don't specifically need to create a technique from scratch, and all kinds of viable modifications and alterations to suit yourself, newer applications of an existing technique, combinations that you yourself derived from existing techniques, and really anything that originated from you that sets you apart from the others will be one step deeper into your Martial Path."

"I see..." She hummed as she processed her words. "So that means your Martial Art is much more unique than any other kind of Martial Art that exists out there?"

"You can say that." Rui nodded.

In reality, one could say much more than that. The fact that he inherited the VOID algorithm from his past alone meant that his individuality was on another level. He wasn't even sure how much of it he had, in all honesty. He knew he had more of it than any other Martial Artist his age, without a doubt. It would be rather shocking if there was.

"So, my Martial Art just needs to gain enough individuality, hm." She nodded. "Will do. But why is that necessary?"

Rui paused for a moment, considering whether he could answer her question, before shrugging. "To survive the procedure."

"Hm?" She frowned.

"The greater your individuality, the deeper your Martial Path, and the greater your mind can withstand," Rui told her, arriving dangerously close to the limit of what he could tell her.

think I have?" She asked

once ran his gaze

She complained, covering her

you." Rui sighed, shrugging

awkward pause before she

then." Uncovering herself, she even puffed her chest out a bit, as if

It didn't.

his mind was pure, his seventeen-year-old hormonal body

get it over with." She looked away with a miffed expression,

back to meet her

('She's hot.')

at her body without his cursed

it, this method isn't all that reliable anyway." He sighed. "It relies on my instincts, which are unfortunately

"Clouded?"

it." He

how do I know how close I am to fulfil the individuality condition to be able to survive the breakthrough to the Squire Realm?"

Rui shrugged, before freezing.

The way she had verified whether or not he had fulfilled the individuality condition for Squire candidacy was by stressing

withstand pressure above a certain degree, then that Martial Apprentice would at the

since he was

him. He couldn't perform that here, not in front

asked

but I can't do it here." He told her. "You need

a skeptical

Rui raised

"You know what."

the

making all of this up so you can lure me to your personal quarters where nobody can see us and where you can