The Martial Unity

The silence drowned out the noise.

No one understood why he radiated more despair than when he was losing against the monster. His actions looked absurd to all spectators aside from those who came to be aware of the source of his frustration. Not even the contestants understood why he took such a strange victory lap.

Regardless, what was done could not be undone. As much as he wished that the creature was still able to continue fighting to push him to the Senior Realm, it was dead. He was just going to have to accept this simple truth and move on.

For a brief moment, he considered attacking other abyssfeeders to see if he could get the same stimulation once more, but he shook his head, sighing.

It was clear to him that that probably would not work. He could feel his raging heart calming down, and that meant that he would have to go through an incredibly stressful battle from scratch. However, even if he did do that, it would still not be enough.

He had already proven himself stronger, he had already proven that the VOID algorithm was the better adapter, and the biggest drive to win had already gone. He had also already qualified for the next round, so there was not even a necessity for such an action.

He instinctively knew that such a paltry attempt at trying to stoke the flames once more was simply not going to work.

He heaved a sigh as he calmed down, but his mood had already soured. Not even the victory and the prospect of getting to the final tournament tomorrow was enough to cheer him up. It couldn't be helped, he had come close to getting something far more valuable. He didn't even strictly need to go any further considering that his agreement with Master Deivon required him to reach the final tournament, and nothing more. Senior Xanarn's treatment had already been secured.

What he was most focused on right now was the opportunity that he had just lost; one that would take him to a higher Realm. He had already found a successful blueprint for it. A Martial Artist who could push the core of his Martial Art to its absolute limit. An opponent that could challenge the foundations of his Martial Art to its absolute limit. An opponent that could challenge the driving force that drove him down his Martial Path of adaptive evolution.

Unfortunately, there were very few opponents that could do that.

Just being strong wasn't enough. Had that been enough, he could just challenge a Martial Senior to a serious fight, and break through in the process of fighting their Martial Heart. But the driving force of his will to fight and pursue his Martial Path was not victory itself. He fought for his ambition of fulfilling Project Water and creating a Martial Art that could adapt and evolve to all opposition in the world, and becoming a Martial Artist who could do that.

Only an opponent that could threaten the sanctity of the choice he made with creating the VOID algorithm; whether that chosen path to fulfilling Project Water was the right choice, could truly rile up his Martial Heart. An ordinary Martial Senior that he knew he would be able to beat if he was in the Senior Realm simply did not intersect with the core driving forces of his Martial journey.

These insights were the sole consolation to the failed opportunity of breaking through to the Senior Realm. Before, he did not know what kind of battle could serve as a viable trigger. But now, he knew what kind of circumstances an opponent would need to create to force him to take the final step.

The other alternative was the threat of hurting his family. He did not even need for this to pan out to know that he would be driven to insane degrees if his family was ever being hurt in front of him, but he did not even consider trying to purposely put them in such a circumstance. That would be sick, and if he was willing to do such a thing in the first place, then he wouldn't be so driven to protect them, so it was even contradictory.

As for helping Senior Xanarn, he didn't even feel bad in admitting that she probably couldn't serve as a trigger. He liked her but it didn't even begin to compare to an ambition that spanned across two lives and a family that he grew up with.

"Huff…" He shook his head, returning to reality as he finally took stock of what was going around him.

"Hm?" His eyes narrowed as he noticed that there were only ten contestants including himself left in the colosseum. "Where…? Oh."

He was so detached from reality he didn't even realize that they had all been disqualified. Most likely because they were about to die at the hands of the abyssfeeder. Which made sense to him, grade-ten Martial Squires were no different from canon fodder to him while the abyssfeeder was powerful enough to take his arm out before dying. It was cut from a different cloth, literally.

In fact, now that he had satisfied his desire to preserve the sanctity of the choice he made, he actually no longer felt threatened by the physiological adaptation evolution that the abyssfeeder had. In this particular battle, it was mind versus body, however, that did not mean that they had to compete for the rest of his life.

Why couldn't it be mind and body? He had already begun to go down that path with the Metabody System. Sure, when he originally created the VOID algorithm adapting and evolving the body was not part of the plan, but that was because it was not possible back on Earth. Had it been possible, there is no way he would not use it. Adaptive evolution was adaptive evolution, regardless of mind and body.

With that in mind, he actually glanced over at the corpse of the abyssfeeder. It had already turned into separate puddles of black goo. A glint of greed flashed across his eyes.