The Martial Unity

Many of the guardians had already realized that this was the case. Yet, being told so straightforwardly by one of the leaders of the Floating Sect made the reality set in.

Yet, thankfully, none of the guardians objected. They were all powerful martial Squires who chose to risk death in order to become a guardian and accepted the prospect of fighting for the sake of the Floating Sect.

It appeared that the policies to increase the commitment of guardians to the Floating Sect were effective, thus far.

"The details will be announced at a later time, but you will be deployed against the one thousand-strong Kaddar Task Force created by the Kaddar Treaty Organization to fight the Floating Sect," The man replied. "Fight hard if you wish to protect the place that has no doubt made many of you stronger, and will make many of you stronger as long as it exists. Do not forget who all of you are, and what you've had to overcome to get here. Good luck. Dismissed"

It was a simple and crisp announcement. He did not try to go overboard and evoke some sort of patriotic sentiment from the guardians. He was well aware that such a thing was not fit for the Floating Sect and the guardians.

"Damn… A war, huh?" Kane murmured with an uncertain expression. "I was hoping to avoid such trouble by coming to Ajanta Island."

"You're not strong enough to evade trouble like this just yet," Rui sighed. "Let's get going."

"What do you plan on doing now?" Kane asked.

"Train, aim for better chambers, get stronger," Rui replied with narrowed eyes.

This was probably the most pumped-for training that he had perhaps ever been. Not only was he motivated by his ambition of Project Water, but he had also developed a desire for power to protect the people he cared about, and now he was being thrust into war, he needed power more than ever before.

"Sounds fun," Kane huffed sarcastically.

Rui was engrossed in his mind as he thought of ways to strengthen his Martial Art. That meant creating techniques, of course. Technique with lots of individuality.

Yet, for some reason, he didn't feel good about it, for some reason.

('I can create techniques endlessly, and they do make me stronger, and they do increase the individuality of my Martial Art but…')

He couldn't quite put his finger on it. It just felt like like it wasn't the best he could do. Now, when he was pressed for more power perhaps more than ever in his life, he felt the need to do the best he could.

Perhaps other Martial Squires were satisfied with simply creating more technique with great individuality or any individuality…

Not Rui.

He wanted to live up to his full potential, especially when he arrived at the truth about Martial Art, and the truth about potential. He did not want to let a single bit about his potential go.

But the next question immediately presented itself.

('What more can I do aside from just creating powerful techniques with a lot of individuality?')

This was a question that would not appear in the minds of an overwhelming majority of Martial Squires.

They were not qualified to ask themselves that question when most of them struggled with ordinary individuality.

Only a handful of truly era-defining Martial Artists could ever even ponder the question seriously.

Rui was one of them.

('…The VOID algorithm,') Rui narrowed his eyes. ('I have long put away its upgrade, but…')

It felt right. He couldn't explain, but he felt he was finally ready to tinker with the masterpiece of his previous life.

In the past, he had been extremely satisfied just being able to use it. After all, that had been the holy grail of Project Water, being able to make the VOID algorithm viable. He did that with the help of Mind Palace and basked in the satisfaction of having fulfilled that part of his ambition for quite some time.

For seven years.

Yet, he was no longer satisfied with just that. This world had shown him that while it would have worked fine on Earth, it was inadequate here. He needed to do more, he couldn't just bask off previous successes.

('It's time to improve the VOID algorithm concretely,') His eyes narrowed.

Suddenly, he felt a deep sense of anticipation and excitement as a small smile creeped on to his face.

"What is it?" Kane raised an eyebrow. "You just thought of something."

"I did, as a matter of fact," He smirked. ('The question is how am I going to upgrade it?')

He had built the VOID algorithm over many years with rigorous research and development. It was something that required access to lots of research capital, a team, and time.

He didn't have any of the things that he had when he created the VOID algorithm, yet he knew that he was going to do it, somehow.

However, he definitely needed a plan as to how he was going to go about it.

('Perhaps I can improve one of its systems?') He wondered with a skeptical expression.

That sounded extremely difficult, he knew the VOID algorithm inside-out, improving its systems was a losing game of diminishing returns. It would take him many years just to make a one-percent improvement.

Although he could perhaps find a new way to improve the existing systems given that the world was far less shackled by reality in his second life, it was still mostly a losing battle in his estimation.

('Well, I ought to keep an open mind in that regard, but it isn't the first option,') Rui had considered a brand-new idea. ('What if I add new systems to the VOID algorithm that will help me be able to better adapt to my opponents?')

His eyes widened.

That sounded far more plausible and realistic than trying to beat a dead horse. Furthermore, several ideas had already popped into his head in regards to how he could go about it.