The Martial Unity

It would be disgraceful for him to deny the convenience of his breakthrough. Things could have unfolded much worse if Ieyasu did not exist. Considering that his family very well may have been saved by Ieyasu helping Rui breakthrough so early, Rui decided not to pursue that line of argument.

He was being weirdly childish, in hindsight.

They both were. A debate about who was superior where they tried flexing on the other was uncharacteristic of both.

Rui did not enjoy bragging about his superiority to other Martial Artists. He couldn't but feel like a jerk picking on the weak when he did that. In general, he disliked demeaning others due to their lack of talent compared to his spectacular growth.

But with Ieyasu, something was just a little different. He was on par with Rui, so a competitive spirit that Rui had almost never experienced before welled up.

'...When was the last time I felt that competitive?' Rui couldn't help but wonder.

Not even Meera had made him feel that competitive, he mostly felt pity for her in the latter half of the fight.

The abyssfeeder came close, but it was too non-sentient.

Before that...

'It was when I fought Kane in the Martial Contest preliminaries.' Rui mused, as his mind flashed back to an ancient memory.

Now he found an equal who he did not need to worry about falling behind or hurting his feelings due to clear superiority. They were basically of the same generation and they had many things in common.

"If you have nothing else to say then leave me alone while I train," Ieyasu remarked.

"Now now, don't be so quick to dismiss me," Rui smirked. "You're going to be training to test your limits in the Senior Realm, aren't you? I have yet to do the same thing and what better way is there to go about it than against an equal?"

Rui took a simple stance mid-air, facing Ieyasu.

"You are annoying but..." Ieyasu turned to face him. "...Your suggestion does have merit."

"It's just training too," Rui smirked. "No need to be competitive."

"Indeed," A competitive glint flashed in Ieyasu's eyes as he took his eyes. "No need to be competitive."

It soon became a competition.

BADUMP!

The two of them lashed forward at top speed as their Martial Hearts blazed into action.

The very air around them incinerated with the sheer friction from the speed of their charges.

POW POW POW!!!

A flurry of blows was exchanged as they immediately rushed into action.

The very skies shook in the wake of their onslaught.

Both Ieyasu and Rui immediately activated their most powerful Martial Art techniques. The VOID algorithm blazed into action as Ieyasu activated his Mind Eye technique.

Rui was determined to win this time.

He was confident too. After all, in their previous fight, Ieyasu heavily benefitted from the damage he had inflicted on Rui early on in the fight before Rui adapted to his own mirror image.

That damage would not exist anymore, and it would give him the edge that he didn't have last time.

His mind raced into action as he observed Ieyasu closely. He didn't know which Martial Art he was going to go with, however, he had developed predictive models for all of his copies, including the one of his own.

Yet his eyes narrowed as Ieyasu raced forward with Gale Force Breathing, Outer Convergence, and Thundering Lance coupled with a Flowing Canon. It appeared that Ieyasu had chosen to fight Rui with his own Martial Art for the third time.

"I told you, didn't I?" Rui narrowed his eyes. "You cannot copy the true power of my Martial Art."

"I don't need it." Ieyasu snorted. "The true power of my Martial Art is superior."

"We'll see about that." Rui activated Hypertrophic Surge.

In a symmetric battle, the stronger one won. Last time, he had needed to use Weaving Blood at full power just to undo all the damage he had initially suffered, this time he could channel those resources towards a more offensive means of end.

Rui's predictive model matched Ieyasu's Mind Eye. However, his patterns served him less well because he didn't have the VOID algorithm, he had previously balanced that out with a stronger Martial Heart, making them dead equal.

But with Hypertrophic Surge entering the equation, Rui could finally gain an edge on Ieyasu even in the Senior Realm.

Ieyasu shifted to the left as his right arm twitched ever so slightly.

'Right hook; Ninety-nine-point-eight percent certainty and accuracy.' Rui ducked, launching an uppercut, looking to knock him out.

And yet;

BOOM!!!

He barely managed to block a powerful kick, flinging him away, and glancing at Ieyasu. He was using a kicking Martial Art that he had copied from one of the guardians.

He narrowed his eyes, rushing forward. Rui immediately recalled the predictive model that he had built for the kicking Martial Art.

And yet;

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!!

A flurry of elbow and knee blows crashed into Rui, throwing off his predictive model yet again. He rushed forward this time, using the patterns of yet another new Martial Art, throwing Rui's predictive model again.

"I see," Rui narrowed his eyes. "That's clever."

"Did you think I would make the same mistake again?" Ieyasu snorted. "You underestimate me."

None of Ieyasu's copies were effective against Rui. The best was his copy of Rui's Flowing Void style, but even that was no longer enough now that Rui could use Hypertrophic Surge to gain an advantage in what was an equal clash.

Thus he had decided to use all his copied Martial Art in rapid succession, chosen randomly. Because, unlike everybody else, he had the ability to alter the fundamental core of his being to change his patterns, he could invalidate Rui's pattern recognition model.

And yet;

BOOM!!!

Rui's fist crashed into his abdomen, flinging him away, and leaving him grimacing.

"That's only a partial solution." Rui snorted as he raced forward. "I still can predict all your Martial Art, you can only delay the progress of my adaptation by a single attack."

Yet he understood that that was all that Ieyasu needed to bridge the gap between them. The two of them raged forth in a battle that rang across the Kaddar Region.