The Martial Unity

The two of them quickly left the valley, heading toward a safer space, before quickly consuming potions. Rui found it hard to talk with a hole in his throat, after all.

"Damn," Kane sat back down. "That's a shame."

"It could have gone either way Kane," Rui shook his head. "This is different from when I win because I am simply stronger. In this case, I was using my Flowing Void Style to the absolute maximum, and I still was unable to even gain an advantage. Furthermore, there were times when you were the one with the upper hand. That was what surprised me."

"Yeah, but I still lost," Kane murmured, dissatisfied. "You just feel invincible."

"I'm far from it," Rui chuckled. "The only reason I won this time was because of a clever trick. I simply applied my power a little better than you, at the end of the day. I suspect had you fought with a more open and flexible mind, you might have won."

"Flexible?"

Rui nodded. "Tell me, what was your plan to win after you saw that I was able to handle your swift jabs to my vital spots?"

"…" Kane considered the question as he understood what Rui was trying to convey. "I just kept swiftly moving around hoping to catch an opening."

"I could see that," Rui noted. "In other words, you seemed to hope for victory, rather than doing everything you could to get it."

"Hey, I wasn't holding back!" Kane protested.

"I'm saying that going physically all out isn't enough. In this instance, you continued going down the same old set of movements even when you knew that they weren't going to work. Do you think

"…"

pointed out. "For example, you know that my reaction speed is very slow compared to yours, especially when compared to you in

that for many

means that my predictions were the only reason I didn't instantly lose the fight," Rui pointed out. "What would happen if you get my predictions to

in thought. "The more I think about

my predictions, it is still an avenue of

didn't mention was that even if Kane tried a simplistic way to disrupt his predictions, it would almost certainly be useless against Rui's predictive model. His model was based on most subconscious active and passive patterns, meaning that his targets were not even aware

Rui off failed unless his

This was essentially impossible.

to instill in Kane was strategic considerations. Had Kane possessed a strategic mindset, which was different from strategic intelligence, Rui was sure that he

approach, hoping to rely on the power of

was, in Rui's opinion, a

if it's ineffective in a particular fight, and offensive maneuvering happens to be preferable to evasive maneuvering in that, should I abandon my Martial Path entirely in pursuit of what is

what Kane was asking was something every

situation, should

Path in a fight bad? How could one

that plagued the Martial Art