The Martial Unity

[Contestant Falken versus Contestant Ran Al Venin]

Rui glanced at another figure in the room.

She met his gaze briefly, before closing her eyes. She too was a masked contestant like he was, it appeared that he was not the only one who found the fame and attention to his identity troubling.

But unlike him, she did not go to great lengths to conceal her identity by procuring a Master-level mask that could hamper even the senses of Martial Masters. He was able to sense her appearance through it.

But it wasn't her identity or appearance that he was concerned about. He quickly studied her Martial Body.

Powerful lower body. He immediately noted.

That alone allowed him to rule out many possibilities.

He definitely did not get the sense that she was an ordinary Martial Artist as far as her Martial Path was concerned.

There definitely were clues that she most likely was not a simple offensive, defensive, or maneuvering-oriented Martial Artist.

He recalled that she had been quite close to being eliminated by the abyssfeeder creature. That did not give him a good impression of her, but he didn't necessarily underestimate her because of that.

He didn't even bother considering the other match-ups at the moment, the tournament would soon begin, and he was going to have to face her in combat, he did not have the luxury to care about other people's match-ups.

"…And with that, it is finally time to begin! We now call upon Contestant Falken, the dark horse of the Martial Contest! A man who came out of nowhere, participating in the contest for the very first time, and reaching the top eight out of nowhere! Will he be able to overcome his opponent, a dangerously powerful warrior, and veteran of the Martial Contest known as the Unearthing Dancer?!"

The crowd cheered.

The two of them headed out toward the colosseum together.

The tension was palatable.

So much so that one may very well have been able to cut it with a knife. He could feel her wariness tingling on his skin.

It couldn't be helped. His performance in the previous round was domineering. He was the only one who defeated the abyssfeeder. He was also the first one to break out of Master Carian's technique.

Her muscles were taut with tension.

Her eyes were sharp.

She couldn't even hide her gritted teeth from him.

hand, was a lot

couldn't be helped

Martial Contest while she was allegedly a veteran,

She was the challenger.

her to prove that her comparatively lackluster performance against the abyssfeeder was not an accurate measure of her

was not the only one who was determined to show the world what she was made

Squire Meera, each of them had something to prove

to a good fight,"

small smile broke on

"But I will win."

as her tone. Rui could even feel

even

at the

Words no longer mattered.

"Wooooo!"

"Go Falken!"

"Kick his ass girl!"

crowd erupted in cheers as the two of them entered the colosseum

had arrived, the colosseum was already prepared for the battle. The podium and the boards were all gone. Even the announcer and commentator was

Martial Senior awaited them at the

Priest Deril," The man informed them. "I will be serving

bowed to him, expressing the deference that

'As a contestant of the Virodhabhasa Contest,

made several oaths regarding fair play

a distance from

chose to take a close-range distance, clearly indicating

were on Rui. People expected him to take a long-range distance given the long-range prowess that

walking towards her, and standing right in

of murmurs across the crowd even as Squire Ran narrowed her

me at your peril,"

consider myself proficient at not underestimating,"

stood on her toes, like a ballet dancer, before lifting one folded knee up, like a Muay

a millimeter despite balancing

is

eyes, honing his

his arms with equal weight towards offense and defense with an evenly distributed weight open to maneuvering

simple and flexible stance,