The Martial Unity

He spent more time with her than he had anticipated. By the time he had left her place, his hair and clothes were in a mess.

He sighed with a mild smirk on his face as he left her personal quarters.

He had one more person to speak with before it was time to leave.

He activated a breathing technique while activating his Martial Heart.

BADUMP!

The breadth and depth of his senses spiked as his mind came to behold the entire island. He immediately spotted Ieyasu, who was actually quite some distance away from the island in the sky.

He activated Gale Force Breathing as he took a single step forward.

WHOOSH!!!

Instantly, the world around him shifted as Xanarn's personal quarters disappeared into the distance in an instant.

He had reached the edge of the island with a single step.

The second step brought him right to Ieyasu.

He turned back, looking at the island that he had already left well behind in the distance. In just a matter of seconds, he had traveled dozens of kilometers.

'Incredible...' He couldn't help but marvel at the power of the Martial Heart before deactivating and turning towards Ieyasu.

The two of them simply stared at each other for a few seconds.

They didn't entirely know how to regard each other. They weren't friends, but they weren't exactly enemies either. They simply recognized that they were useful tools to each other that could facilitate their breakthrough to a higher Realm.

The assumption was that one of them would die in the process, and that was a risk both of them were willing to endure.

The possibility that not only would both of them survive but also would break through to the Senior Realm was essentially non-existent.

Yet it happened.

"...I have some important matters to speak to you about." Rui began. "You know my identity. I have no doubt that you have managed to glean some other information about me, to what extent, I don't know. However, here's what I do know..."

The air curdled as a profoundly faint bloodlust arose from Rui. "...Should you use that information maliciously... I will kill you. It won't be a fair fight. it won't even be a fight. It won't be an honorable death. One day you'll be sipping tea only to find yourself coughing blood uncontrollably. One day, you'll be taking a shit only to find a blade sticking out of your chest."

His eyes narrowed. "Do not give me a reason to make you my enemy. It will not end well for either of us, but especially not you."

The man stared deep into Rui's eyes, his own reflecting the void that loomed deep within Rui's eyes.

"You seem to be under a grave misconception." He remarked, never removing his fixed stare from Rui. "You... do not matter. The only reason your existence had meaning and value to me is because you served as a means to an end. Now that those ends have been acquired, you have already left my cognition."

"Who you are... Where you came from... None of that matters to me." He declared. "Within a few months, I will have forgotten what you look like. Within a year, your name will have escaped me. I have more important things to dedicate my mind to. Nothing is worthy of my malice, not even you. Take your irksome paranoia and get out of here before I change my mind and finish what I promised I would do to you."

Rui simply stared at him with a pointed look, as if he was trying to convey something.

"...What are you doing?" Ieyasu frowned mildly.

"Well, you can read my mind right?" Rui tilted his head. "So you should know what I am thinking."

"I do not have that technique activated at all times, it is quite burdensome and I don't care for people's thoughts outside of combat," Ieyasu stated.

"Interesting..." Rui's eyes grew clouded with interest.

"Don't make me repeat myself." Ieyasu's eyes narrowed. "You have already delayed my training enough."

Rui glanced back at him with a cautious expression. "You swear you won't divulge my personal information?"

"I don't swear lightly." He replied coldly. "I don't care whether you believe me or not."

Rui simply stared at him in silence for a few moments. "...Well, I guess I'll have to take you at your word for now. Especially since I can't kill you."

"Of course, you can't." Ieyasu snorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. You cannot kill me, I am superior."

"Our battle was a tie." Rui protested.

"My Martial Heart is stronger," Ieyasu stated.

"My Martial Art is stronger." Rui retorted. "Besides, I'm younger, I have greater potential and quicker growth than you, so I will surpass you."

"Only because you had me to help you grow stronger. My Martial Art has that effect on people who can survive it."

"You had me to help you grow stronger. My Martial Art does the same thing too. So I still end up having more potential and growth than you."

"You had me at the age of twenty-four when you reached the peak of the Squire Realm." Ieyasu narrowed his eyes. "I had nobody when I reached the peak of the Squire Realm at the same age six years ago. I had to spend five years searching for someone who was cut from the same cloth as me, and then I had to wait an additional year for you to mature and reach my level."

Rui paused.

That was actually a good point. Rui did indeed luck out meeting Ieyasu at the right time.

"Imagine how long it would have taken to break through to the Senior Realm if you did not have me." Ieyasu narrowed his eyes. "You would have had to wait for years on end for a suitable candidate, you would have easily reached my age without having found an opportunity to break through. You broke through earlier than me because you were luckier than me. Nothing more."

Rui snorted, yet he remained silent, wordlessly conceding that point.