Chapter 80 A Challenge

Rui could feel the other students weren't as driven to win as he was. To them this was a routine impossible challenge; one that could not be won, and one that wasn't meant to be won. Rui understood this perspective, but he still wanted to give it his all.

('How can you improve if you don't push yourself to your limit?') He wondered. ('And what better way to push yourself to the limit by trying to accomplish what seems impossible?')

In order to have any chance of winning, he needed as much information as he could get. This was one of his bigger problems. He wasn't sure what was necessary to defeat a Martial Squire. In fact, he didn't know what made Martial Squires special in the first place, or what separated them from Martial Apprentices. This was something even people like Fae, Kane and Milliana were not aware of despite their background.

He had observed Martial Squires in action before. He had seen Squire Kyrie spar against the senior Apprentices before, and it just seemed like she was inhuman. Her speed, power and durability were ridiculous. Martial Apprentices like himself had already surpassed conventional human limits by virtue of having discovered their Martial Paths and having learnt Apprentice-level techniques. But that still paled in comparison to Squire Kyrie.

Rui remembered the Martial Squire he had come across when he was a little toddler. This Martial Artist was powerful enough to entirely destroy a rather large tree trunk with a single attack. A feat Rui found unbelievable to this day.

('Even with a combination of Vital Pressure and Flowing Canon amplified by Balance Direction and Parallel Walk, I don't think I could possibly replicate that feat.') At best, he would be able to inflict cracks, but shattering it to smithereens was out of question.

"Take your positions." Squire Kyrie calmly ordered. Despite the others taking their stances, she merely stood there unperturbed, tying up her red hair so that it didn't obstruct her while she was sparring.

The Apprentices gathered around her, each taking their stance, concentrating on her. The air grew more and more tense, until finally;

"Begin." she instructed.

In an instant she was lunged at by three Martial Apprentices.

WHOOSH

All three attacks missed her as she gracefully slipped out of their attack trajectories. Her attackers didn't give up, pursuing her. From the other side, Fae approached, preparing a barrage of palm attacks.

Squire Kyrie didn't try to evade this time, with nearly four people upon her, pure evasion was the less optimal choice.

Instead she clasped an incoming punch from one of the offense-oriented Martial Apprentice, flipping him over her shoulder and straight into the Fae's palm attack.

"Crap." Fae tried stopping but the throw was too swift and well-timed. It was practically impossible to stop a full-powered and sped attack point blank.

BAM

The poor boy was blown away by Fae's attack. Kyrie swiftly threw a roundhouse kick that struck the chins of her two other attackers, while ducking to avoid Fae's attack. In just a matter of moments, she dismantled three senior Apprentices with ease.

POW

She checked Fae with a straight kick, opening up the distance.

Just as she began pursuing Fae, blurry shadow in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Kane had rushed in the moment he spotted an opening.

WHOOSH

Kane launched a swift jab that Kyrie narrowly, yet cleanly avoided. Kane could normally afford to take bolder risks because he was extremely difficult to hit or catch, but that did not apply when his opponent was a Martial Squire.

Just as Kyrie turned to punish Kane, Fae, Dalen and Milliana pounced at her forcing her to pay them attention as Kane managed to evade the half-hearted strike. Soon enough every Apprentice joined the battle, picking up the slack when one of their peers was blown away or slammed to the ground by Squire Kyrie.

All Apprentices except one.

Rui had not moved since the battle began; he hadn't even taken a stance. He merely stared at Squire Kyrie, as though she was the only thing he could see.

"Hey! Do you want me to give you a written Martial invitation to join the battle or are you going to actually do something?" Kane snapped as he approached Rui, having retreated from a throw.

"I'm an all-rounder, rather than haphazardly jumping in and trying to take her down with my jack-of-all trades fighting style, I can provide more utility if I observe her more carefully and adapt to her." he calmly explained, not taking his eye off Kyrie. "My Martial Art works better with more information."

"Uh huh, sure thing." Kane sarcastically replied. "How's that working out for you so far? Any insights from your Martial Majesty?"

"She's purposely limiting herself, but in very defined manners."

"Right, that's very helpful, isn't it? I feel oh-so confident after hearing you utter those words." Kane threw a contemptuous glare at Rui.

Rui smiled wryly, meeting Kane's eyes for the first time. "When dealing with single opponents, if the attacker engages in striking, she responds with counter-offensive measures eighty-four percent of the time. When dealing with more than three attackers, she responds with evasive maneuvers ninety-two percent of the time. Her counter-offensive measures are almost entirely soft-natured, in that they use her opponent's energy against them, rather than using her own energy. Her response against kicks are counter-offensive and her response against jabs are defensive seventy-nine percent and ninety-three percent of the time, respectively. Her senses are extremely sharp, effectively functioning as clairvoyance, being able to avoid attacks outside of her vision extremely well."

"..."

It was simple data science. By simply noting and segregating her many responses in specific circumstances, he could identify certain quirks and tendencies. This principle was the foundation for the later iterations of the VOID algorithm.

"In short, she's relying on her senses, as well as on precision, accuracy, timing and placement instead of her Squire level power. She's beating us all with Apprentice-level material." Rui sighed. The fact that Squire Kyrie could beat them all without using the shocking physical prowess of Martial Squires, showed just how beyond them she was. A lifetime of real-life combat with her life on the line had honed her judgement and decision-making.

"But does any of this help?" Kane wondered, unsure.

"I guess we'll find out." Rui replied, before dashing towards Squire Kyrie. The closer he came, the more his heart tingled.

('I know.') He placed his hand over his chest, feeling the excited pounding that reverberated across his entire body. ('We've finally reached this stage.') He thought, as he met eyes with Kyrie.

"Done playing scarecrow?" She poked at him. Rui responded by throwing his most powerful attack at her.

BAM

A combination of Parallel Walk, Balance Direction amplifying the Flowing Canon technique paired with Vital Pressure. This was what Rui struck her with.

But alas, to no effect. She intercepted the attack with her forearm, and rotated, pushing the attack away from a clean impact.

('She redirected the attack, as expected.') Rui noted, before following up with a barrage of Vital Pressure strikes.

Kyrie cleanly deflected all of them, before launching an incredibly swift jab at Rui's diaphragm.

POW

Rui grimaced. Despite mitigating the damage with Elastic Shift and Acute Edge, his abdomen still stung, bruising from the blow.

Before she could follow up to finish the job, she was attacked by three more Apprentices, diverting her attention.

"Heh, that worked out well indeed." Kane sneered.

Rui ignored the remark, turning to Kane.

"I have an idea, but I'm gonna need help. You up for a challenge?"