A drop of sweat trickled down Julian’s face as he watched Rui and Fiona facing off at each other with anxious tensions. All of the children were silent for once, staring at the two representatives facing each other off, not blinking.
Julian had seen wonders in the time that they had spectated the Martial Contest. He had witnessed the Martial Artists accomplish magical things one after the other. It shaken his worldview. Although he had worked with research teams that conducted research on Martial Art, he hadn’t quite seen anything remotely comparable to this.
However, what truly caught his attention was seeing a side of his brother that he hadn’t seen. Rui was normally very pleasant, but when he stepped on the ring, he had become incredibly intimidating and scary. He was also very strong, having made it to the finals.
Yet even Julian couldn’t help but feel quite anxious when he saw that Rui had to face that monster girl who thrashed everyone she fought against.
He hoped Rui would be fine.
He was not the only one who felt that way.
“How do you think it’s going to go?” Fae asked in a different section of audience stands.
“He has an uphill battle.” Hever said calmly.
Kane didn’t reply. He hated to admit it, but Fiona was stronger than he’d imagined. They were of the same age, but he didn’t think he could beat her. In fact, the only reason they could even have a competitive match was because Kane had the Void Step technique.
He simply ignored Fae and stared at the duo.
“Take your stances.” The referee instructed, down at the arena.
Fiona didn’t move. However, Rui did expect this. He raised his heels of the ground, lightly hopping. It was a stance that facilitated agility.
“Begin!”
WHOOSH
Fiona crossed the distance in an instant, launching a powerful blow at Rui.
WHOOSH
Her fist crashed into a feint as Rui smoothly evaded her blow. The mildest flash of surprise flicked onto her face. She hadn’t expected Rui to be able to handle her first blow that well.
Rui not only evaded her attack but spun as he threw a speedy jab at her face.
BAM!
He felt a heavy blow crash into him quicker than his own attack. He grimaced as he just barely managed to disperse a portion of the impact with Inner Divergence, shocked at her power. Only Fae could surpass her force, the fact that she could bypass his defense with ordinary strikes was ridiculous, not even Nel could do that.
POW POW POW!
She launched a flurry of strikes against him. Rui turtled up as he retreated, trying to mitigate the impacts as much as he could and open up some distance between them. Yet she launched herself at him, throwing a wild haymaker at his head, hoping to knock him out.
WHOOSH
Rui evaded the strike thanks to a combination of the VOID algorithm, Primordial Instinct and the Phantom Step. However, the importance of the role his enhanced mind could not be downplayed either. All of these together resulted in extremely quick reactions that could give even Kane a run for his money.
Not even Fiona was fast enough to overwhelm his reactions in close quarters like she did nearly everyone else.
A mild frown flashed across her face as she sensed that.
Yet, his mind could not make his defenses stronger. Her offense power was overwhelming. Every single one of her strikes was on par with his Flowing Canon.
BAM!
Rui grimaced as a powerful blow landed on his guard, launching him a distance away. Trying to evade every single strike threw was pointless, it as impossible. Her raw speed was extremely high, surpassing his. He was able to compensate with his special circumstances, but not to the degree where he could evade even half her strikes, let alone all. Only Kane could possibly accomplish that incredibly difficult feat.
POW POW POW!
She lashed out against him, throwing a barrage of strikes at him. Each strike was extremely painful, bruising him visibly. His arm had become a mess in a just short period of time.
Yet he was not resigned.
WHOOSH
BAM!
He rushed in misdirecting her incoming strike with Phantom Step, he charged with every ounce of his power, as he threw the strongest Flowing Canon he mustered.
BAM!
She skidded away a bit as she blocked the strike.
Ultimately, it didn’t make too big a difference. But it was the first strike he had cleanly landed on her. It was a symbol of his competitiveness, in a way.
She simply lashed out at him, yet to her surprise.
WHOOSH
He cleanly evaded her yet again.
POW!
A second strike landed on her. She barely managed to block it in time, much to her surprise. She lashed out, throwing powerful blows one after the other.
Yet to everyone’s surprise.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH
Rui began dodging better and better. His timing grew more and more refined as the accuracy of his motions increased in real time.
Adapting to all-rounders was never easy, so how was Rui accomplishing it?
(‘Your tactical flexibility is non-existent.’) Rui mused. (‘That makes you easier to predict.’)
Because she was so extraordinarily strong, especially for her age, she had become accustomed to winning via the application of her techniques alone. She nearly needed to exert herself and her techniques in the most straightforward manner possible. Very few people could stand up to her when she went all out, and the few that could never last long.
That had always been enough, especially for her character.
This was her greatest strength.
Yet, it was also her greatest weakness, perhaps her only weakness. Yet it was a weakness that one had to be strong enough to exploit.
Rui, however, wasn’t flawless.
BAM!
She landed a powerful kick on his guard, propelling him away. She felt a strange sense of defiance welling up in her. The idea of losing to someone as old as her didn’t feel nice.
“I’m not going down that easily.”