The Martial Unity

Rui needed to create some concrete countermeasures against the Void Step technique, but so far all he had were scraps of ideas.

('The biggest threat of the Void Step technique comes from its ability to bypass defense first, allowing the user to launch lethal attacks, and the second most annoying part about is the fact that it's exceedingly difficult to harm the user because they cannot be perceived.')

Rui needed a solution for both of these problems.

('Thankfully, Kane's offense is mediocre at best.') Rui sighed in relief. Kane spent most of his time on maneuvering techniques centered around evasion, agility and speed. His offense was nowhere near as solid as his evasive maneuvering. He also didn't have any high-grade lethal techniques like the Stinger, nor did he have any high-grade potent offensive techniques like Outer Convergence.

He had a much harder time mastering techniques that were not maneuvering or evasive in nature, since that was where his talent and affinity lied. This was also proven by how long he took to beat Gale, if he had a technique like Stinger, the match would have ended in seconds.

What this actually meant was that even if he could make it much more difficult for Rui to defend, it would still take him some amount of time to beat Rui, especially when Rui's defense was as solid as it was.

"What are you so engrossed about?" Kane asked, noticing Rui had zoned out of their discussion.

"Just thinking about how I'm going to fight you." Rui replied. "You've grown incredibly strong Kane."

"You'll figure it out." Kane shrugged, before smirking. "Probably. Maybe. Well, we'll see."

"You sure have faith in me." Rui grumbled grumpily, earning a mischievious chuckle from Kane.

"Don't worry." Fae interjected. "Even if Rui fails, I'll be sure to pummel you to the ground. You can thank me later."

Rui sighed as the two of them immediately began arguing and trash-talking each other again. Just as he was about to resume his brainstorming session on how to beat Kane, a voice drew his attention.

"Fae Dullahan." A staff member called to her. "You second match has been scheduled."

"My, it's that time already." Fae mused, before nodding. "Catch you later."

The four of them immediately head to witness her match. Fae was a real contender and candidate for the representative position, and everyone wanted to see how strong she'd grown.

"Her opponent..." Rui murmured recognizing her.

"Tarah Meinfold." Dalen supplied. "She's a senior Martial Apprentice of the Academy, a strong counter-offensive specialist."

Rui immediately thought about Neira, who was also a counter-offensive specialist.

('She'd probably do well in this setting.') Rui mused.

"Take your stances." The supervisor instructed.

Fae took her standard stance, with one upside-down palm at her waist and her other palm pointed straight at Tarah, with her legs spread and crouched.

Farah brought both palms in front of her at chest-level, with one foot forward and the other back.

"A non-offensive stance." Rui noted. "She can't easily launch a single attack worth anything in that stance. That's stance meant to intercept incoming attacks."

"Makes sense." Dalen nodded.

"Will she be able to intercept Fae's attacks though?" Kane wondered out aloud.

All of them could feel the coiling power in Fae's frame, especially Rui. The sheer amount of potential energy in her muscles was tingling and prickling Rui's Primordial Instinct.

"We'll see." Rui said open-mindedly. He didn't think it was really possible, but decided to reserve his judgement.

Counter-offensive specialists could be quite tricky, because their battles were inherently asymmetric and soft.

What this meant was that they used a combination of their own energy as well as their opponent's energy against them.

"Begin!" The supervisor commenced the fight.

BOOM

Fae dashed at Tarah, the force of her leap, sent a mild reverberation across the ring. Just as she reached Tarah, the coiled palm tucked at her waist lashed out like a viper. It was an incredibly powerful blow that even Rui did not think he would be able to endure very well even with all three of his techniques.

FHWOOP

Tarah's arms stretched, reaching for Fae's palm. But she did not strike or push against it, nor did she try to block or stop it. Instead, she pulled it in, manipulating the trajectory of her palm while also partially side-stepping.

WHOOSH

Fae's body twisted midair, rotating as she summersaulted, landing on the other side of the ring.

"Woah." Kane raised an eyebrow. "What the hell was that."

"Redirection." Rui replied, as he scrutinized Tarah's form. "Counter-offensive redirection, specifically."

"What does that even mean?" Kane tilted his head confused.

"She used Fae's momentum against her." Rui explained. "She redirected a bit of her momentum and energy and used it to try and throw Fae to flip and throw Fae down to the ground in a grappling maneuver. But she failed, she underestimated Fae's sense of balance as well as her exquisite control over her power."

"Hmmm..." Kane narrowed his eyes as he digested what Rui told him.

"Fae's improved. A lot" Rui nodded. "When she joined the Academy, her style was still full of holes. But she's improved all round. Furthermore, she's mastered some high-grade offensive techniques and her power has since skyrocketed. She's going to be a menace to beat. But..."

"But?" Kane asked.

"But Tarah is extremely compatible with her." Rui sighed. "A bit unfortunate for Fae, but Tarah is probably one of three or four Martial Apprentices in the Academy who can handle Fae's power head-on. She specializes in using her opponents' power against her after all."

"Do you think Fae will win?" Kane asked.

"She can if she chooses the right course of action." Rui replied. "For now, all we can do is watch and see whether she does.

Their attention returned to the fight. Fae had not yet resumed her attack. She was merely shuffling around, testing Tarah's reactions to feints.

('She's calm and composed.') Rui nodded approvingly. ('She's taking her time to think this through because she knows she can. Tarah is a counter-offensive specialist, which means Fae inherently has the initiative.')

('The answer is right in front of you, I'm sure you can find it.')

* * * * *

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